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Alleged Third Term Agenda: PDP Warns APC, Presidency
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday cautioned the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Presidency against purported plans to push a third term agenda for President Muhammadu Buhari.
In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, it described the alleged plot as a dangerous underhand politics capable of derailing Nigeria’s democracy.
It also described the statements from the presidency and the APC as unhealthy ploy to introduce a repugnant issue into official discourse in a bid to give it a life and achieve its fruition in the nation’s politics.
“It is preposterous for the Presidency cabal and the APC to think that Nigerians cannot see through their shenanigan to import and elevate what they labeled as rumour and internet-based gossip, into official national discourse.
“Our party notes that Nigerians will not be surprised when, after the statements by the Presidency and APC, new groups surfaced to orchestrate more forceful agitations in the public space for the alteration of the 1999 Constitution to achieve an ignoble aim,” the statement added.
The party urged President Muhammadu Buhari to speak out and immediately call his supporters to order as Nigerians would not allow anybody, no matter how highly placed, to alter any part of the constitution to serve a selfish interest.
Besides, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has sought the arrest and prosecution of campaigners and sponsors of third term for President Buhari because what they were advocating was treasonable and amounts to constitutional coup plotting.
HURIWA said any campaign sponsored by forces within the current government for the constitutional term limits for political office of president of Nigeria to be extended constituted an offence against the Nigerian people and capable of truncating constitutional democracy.
The group insisted that such moves should not be swept under the carpet or explained away through presidential media propaganda.
In a statement issued yesterday in Abuja by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, the group cited Chapter 6, Part 1, section 137(1)(b) of the Constitution, which provides that a person shall not be qualified for election to the office of president if he has been elected to the office at any two previous elections.
Meanwhile, the South East Zone wing of the Zikist-Buharist Movement (ZBM) has applauded President Buhari for rejecting the third term gambit being proposed by anti-democrats and unpatriotic elements.
The presidency had on Tuesday through the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media, Garba Shehu, distanced the President from the alleged third term agenda.
Shehu said the Presidency had always maintained that President Buhari was a convert democrat and like most converts was fanatical and could not support any move that would altering the 1999 Constitution to stretch his tenure beyond a two-term limit.
Reacting in a statement by the Chairman, Stanley Ohajuruka and Secretary, Godwin Onwusi, commended President Buhari for rejecting third term gambit, saying it was being proposed by the infamous banana peel anti-democrats and unpatriotic elements, whose sole objective was to truncate the nation’s democracy and tarnish the President’s image.
The Guardian
Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, is putting Nigeria back on the watchlist, reversing a Joe Biden-era policy due to the extermination of Christians, Fox News reports.
The US President, Donald Trump, on Friday, ordered the designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern, saying that Christians in Nigeria are facing an existential threat. He also called on American lawmakers to investigate the mass slaughter.
A day later, Trump revealed that he had ordered the Pentagon to prepare for possible action in Nigeria as he continued accusing the Federal Government of violence against Christians.
Trump, who posted a statement on his social media handle, said that if the Nigerian government continues to allow the killing of Christians, US troops will be ordered to enter Nigeria and wipe out terrorists.
He said: “If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, “guns-a-blazing,” to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.
”I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our cherished Christians! Warning: The Nigerian government better move fast!”
However, Fox News is now reporting that Trump’s directive has been carried out as Rubio is putting Nigeria back on the watchlist.
Source: Fox News
The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Tuesday, gave the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, until November 5 to defend the terrorism charges filed against him or risk waiving his right to do so.
The trial judge, Justice James Omotoso, advised Kanu to consult legal practitioners experienced in criminal law to assist with his defence or to formally appoint a lawyer to represent him in court.
Justice Omotosho’s decision followed Kanu’s continued refusal to open his defence, insisting that there was no valid charge pending against him.
Kanu, who represented himself during Tuesday’s proceedings, told the court that he would not return to detention unless the charges against him were properly presented.
He argued that his continued detention by the Department of State Services was unlawful, maintaining that he had not breached any known law.
He also accused the court of disregarding the Supreme Court’s judgment which, according to him, condemned his extraordinary rendition from Kenya.
He demanded that the trial judge immediately discharge him from custody.
When reminded that the Supreme Court had ordered a fresh trial, Kanu maintained his position that the terrorism charge was invalid and incompetent.
Citing Section 36(12) of the 1999 Constitution, he argued that there was no existing law creating a terrorism offence in Nigeria.
“In Nigeria today, the Constitution is the supreme law. There is no valid charge against me. I will not go back to detention today. The Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act has been repealed. I cannot defend myself under a repealed law,” Kanu said.
He further challenged any lawyer to show him a valid charge, urging the court to “take judicial notice” of what he claimed was the repeal of the terrorism law.
“I cannot be tried under a law that has been repealed. Prosecuting me under such a law is a violation of my fundamental rights,” he insisted.
After several attempts to persuade him to enter his defence, Justice Omotosho adjourned proceedings until November 5, 2025, giving Kanu the final opportunity to either defend the charge or forfeit his right to do so.
During the session, counsel for the Federal Government, Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), informed the court that some documents served on him by Kanu were unsigned and not endorsed by the court, arguing that they held no evidential value.
There was drama in the Senate on Tuesday following the recent threat by Donald Trump, the President of the United States to take military action against Nigeria over alleged persecution of Christians.
It started when Godswill Akpabio, the Senate President, was addressing reports by an online platform alleging that he had publicly rebuffed Trump over his recent comments and had said Nigerians were “not complaining” about their condition.
The visibly displeased Senate President denied ever making such statements, describing them as “false and malicious.”
He condemned the publication, saying it was an attempt to create diplomatic tension and discredit the National Assembly.
“The fake report claimed I said Nigerians are not complaining that we like the way we are living. That is completely false. I have petitioned the police and the DSS,” he said.
Akpabio said, “Somebody will sit in the comfort of his room and fabricate a report, attaching fake pictures from 2023 when I visited Port Harcourt with senators for a completely different event, and then claim that the Senate President replied President Trump.
“Who am I to answer Trump?” Akpabio asked jokingly.
The issue, however, sparked heated reactions on the floor of the Senate as Akpabio, and his deputy, Barau Jibrin, openly differed on how the Nigerian legislature should respond.
While Akpabio dismissed reports that he had already reacted to Trump’s comments, declaring, “Who am I to answer Trump?”, Barau quickly interjected, insisting that he was not afraid of the American leader.
“I’m not scared of Trump. I will say my mind. I’m a Nigerian. Nigeria is a sovereign nation,” Barau said passionately.
The Deputy Senate President added, “I’m a parliamentarian, the Deputy Senate President, I can speak. Don’t be scared of Trump. You can say your mind about Trump. We are a sovereign nation.”
The exchange, which briefly lightened the mood in the chamber, underscored a divide in tone between both presiding officers on how Nigeria’s parliament should handle the diplomatic row.
“It is the Presidency that will respond to President Trump, not the Senate President. But who is that person that would ascribe a comment to me when I was never contacted?”
Akpabio urged security agencies to investigate and prosecute those behind the viral story, describing it as an effort to “cause friction and bring the Nigerian Senate into disrepute.”
“I believe the Cybercrimes Unit of the police, the DSS, and others should find that character out. This is meant to sow division. Social media should not be allowed to break Nigeria,” he added.
The Senate President, however, noted that the Red chamber would take an official position on Trump’s remarks once the federal government had clarified its stance.
He said, “When the executive responds, we will take a position as a Senate. Until then, no one should speak for this institution.”
Over the weekend, Trump declared via social-media that Nigeria faces “an existential threat” to its Christian population and warned that the U.S. may deploy troops or conduct air-strikes if the Nigerian government fails to halt the killings.
He instructed the Pentagon to prepare for possible action and threatened to cut all U.S. aid to Nigeria.
In tandem, the U.S. re-added Nigeria to its “Country of Particular Concern” list for religious freedom violations.
The Nigerian government rejected the designation and the characterisation of persecuting Christians, insisting that Nigeria protects religious freedom for all.
Source: businessday.ng
