It is now about nine years since Ibrahim Mantu, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party, left office as deputy president of the Nigerian senate, he has now spoken on his role in the controversial third term bid of former President Obasanjo.
In this exclusive interview with Premium Times, former deputy president of the Nigerian senate, Ibrahim Mantu, has spoken on a wide range of issues, including his role in the controversial third term bid of former President Obasanjo.
Below are the excerpts;
People actually knew you were Obasanjo’s henchman in the Senate. Can you specifically tell us what he used you to achieve in the National Assembly?
Well, I can say what he used me to achieve was what the National Assembly also used me to achieve for this country. You know Obasanjo was very unpopular with the National Assembly, both Senate and House of Reps. So, when he was almost impeached and it was clear he was on his way out, I called some people in that chamber and I said we were beginning to overheat this polity and we should be careful.
I didn’t want a situation where the military would come and take over. We had suffered under the military for so long. Therefore, we should not allow our emotions to becloud our objectivity so that democracy would not be scuttled. So I began to appeal to the conscience of the people and was able to scuttle the impeachment process. That was the only thing that I did that Obasanjo appreciated me for.
How did he appreciate you?
You know some believe he must have given you a lot of money.
But you know Obasanjo does not part with one kobo. Even his own relatives, when they come to him, he would give them five naira or N10. So, anybody who knows Obasanjo very well will tell you Obasanjo will never buy anybody. He is not the kind of person that expresses appreciation by giving you money. Never! He could shower encomiums, call you great man and so on. But if you have something you want like I took Julius Bala to him for BPE job. When he saw that Julius Bala was the only person in Nigeria that had Ph.D. in Privatization, that was what attracted him. Then he asked me to bring the person and Julius Bala reminded him that he was the one interpreting for him in Japan. Obasanjo said “oh you were the one!” That again helped. Again, that is to tell you Obasanjo cares for merit. Once he knows you are qualified for something and you have value to add to it, he will go for you.
Scuttling the impeachment process brought me closer to Obasanjo. But many people believe I was close to Obasanjo because I was the arrowhead of the tenure elongation project, the so-called third term project. That’s absolutely not true. I have held series of press briefing in the past when the accusation against me was at its peak.
I told people not to mix my role as Chairman of the Constitution Review committee with supporting tenure elongation of Obasanjo. I was the Chairman of the committee by virtue of being Deputy Senate President. I was not the first person, it is just part of the responsibility of the office of the Deputy Senate President.
First of all, when we were going around the entire nation to collect views about the clauses we intended to amend, one of the clauses was tenure elongation. When we collected the report, many people were encouraging opposition Senators not to sign the report that was going to be presented to the Senate and House of Reps. I asked all the sub-committee chairmen, especially one that had to be with tenure elongation to swear to God if there was anywhere I talked to anybody about tenure elongation project. They said no! I asked if there was a time I asked any sub-committee chairman to write what I wanted apart from what they collected from Nigerians. There was nothing like that. And that was how all the members of the committee, both those who are for and against, signed the report because they knew the report reflected what was collected in the zones and the states.
There was no input from my part as chairman of the committee. I only collected and presented. But because those who were having a burning ambition to become President of Nigeria went to the press like you people, and the press hyped something that was not a story at all. And they made tenure elongation out of 103 clauses as if that was the alpha and omega of all the changes.
Then, at the end of the day, we ended up throwing away the baby and the bath water. So, even recently, I asked if there was anybody in the entire nation that I called to support Obasanjo’s tenure elongation project. The answer is no. But the impression was as if I were made Chairman of the Constitution Review Committee to ensure Obasanjo’s tenure elongation project scale through. Unfortunately, when the press decides to overblow something, people will believe what they read as the golden truth. But that’s not the truth because many of us sponsor you people to write what suit our interest.
In simple term, what was your role in the tenure elongation project?
Was there any hidden role again?
The role was open. I did not have any hidden agenda about tenure elongation. If I had, would I have gone to discuss it with spirits? It was human beings that I would tell. And up till now, nobody has said Mantu came to him to canvass support for tenure elongation.
How did the third term project fail, given that your party had majority of the States’ Houses of Assembly and majority in the National Assembly?
It failed because most of the Senators bought into the campaign of those people who did not want Obasanjo to have another tenure because they were also very eager to take over Aso Rock. And those were the people who went to buy the press, buy everybody to hype all sorts of negativity about Obasanjo’s tenure elongation.
Something dramatic happened on the floor that day. The bill died. As a seasoned politician were you expecting it to happen? Did you see the handwriting on the wall as you were heading towards that stage of voting?
As far as I am concerned, (third term plot) it died before that day. It died some days before because something happened that led to its death. Let me say it was not popular with a lot of Senators. Maybe those who were supporting the tenure elongation did not do their work in terms of showcasing its advantages. But the mistake people made was that it was not going to be for Obasanjo alone. It was for all Presidents because proponents of that project believe two terms of four years is not enough to make impact in terms of transforming the nation economically.
As Obasanjo’s friend in the Senate, what was his attitude towards you when this effort died?
I don’t want to say much about that. All I know is that he was not happy. But he knew a tree could not make a forest.
No comments :
Post a Comment