Pressure built on Wednesday on Nigeria over attempts to give President Olusegun Obasanjo a third term in office by changing the Constitution, with United Nations chief Kofi Annan and the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) weighing into the debate.
African leaders should “play by the rules” and resist the temptation to perpetuate their grip on power, the UN secretary general said in an interview.
“We need to accept the Constitution … and we should not tamper with the Constitution to perpetuate our rule,” Annan told the independent newspaper The Guardian.
Annan said a country’s constitution should not be changed to satisfy individuals’ political ambitions, warning that such a step could lead to instability.
The Nigeria-based Ecowas, for its part, urged its largest member to comply with due process.
“Ecowas expresses the hope that the constitutional review process will proceed in compliance with due process and respect for the Constitution and laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, without a recourse to violence or intimidation,” it said.
“Furthermore, Ecowas urges all sides to respect the eventual outcome of the process underway,” it said.
The 15-member Ecowas said events in Nigeria were important to the sub-region as a regional power.
“It need not be emphasised that the entrenchment of constitutional rule in Nigeria is inextricably linked up with the ongoing efforts to deepen and consolidate democratic culture in West Africa,” it said.
“It is therefore imperative that all stakeholders are mindful of the leadership role of Nigeria in the sub-region and desist from any actions that are likely to undermine the consolidation of democracy and peace in the country,” it added.
The Nigerian Parliament has been debating a package of constitutional changes, submitted by Obasanjo’s supporters, which would allow him to run for a third term in office at the expiration of his two four-year terms.
The plan has drawn outrage from the opposition, organised labour and a large swathe of the public.
“The plot is doomed to fail. It is stillborn because 99% of Nigerians are against tenure elongation,” opposition leader and rights activist Gani Fawehinmi told Agence France-Presse.
Obasanjo was elected in 1999 in a vote which marked the end of Nigeria’s last bout of military rule. He was re-elected in 2003 in polls marred by widespread fraud, and has not endorsed anyone to succeed him. — AFP