Segun Olatunji, Kaduna

The governors had converged on the Hassan Usman Katsina State House, Kaduna, for a five-hour meeting on the ongoing amendment to the 1999 Constitution.

But before the meeting started, hundreds of anti-third term protesters held up the convoy of the governors.

Members of the 2007 Movement, an association of anti-third term National Assembly members, led by Senator Uche Chukwumerije, also stormed the forum in protest against tenure extension.

Despite the protest, the governors met behind closed doors.

A source indicated that the forum could not reach a consensus on whether to support the third term agenda or not.

Addressing newsmen at the end of the meeting, the Chairman of the NGF, Dr. Bukola Saraki of Kwara State, however, said the governors opted for further consultation on constitution amendment.

He said, 鄭fter an extensive deliberation on the ongoing constitution amendment in the country, the forum resolved that members should go ahead to consult with their respective constituencies on the matter.・

He also said that the forum had advised each of the Northern states to take immediate steps to review some of their laws that required urgent attention.

The forum, he said, directed the immediate reinstatement of the sacked Editor of the New Nigerian Newspapers, Mallam Mahmud Jega.

About 30 minutes after Saraki痴 briefing, three of the Northern governors and a deputy governor emerged from a room at the State House for a separate conference.

The governors were Ahmed Sani Yerima (Zamfara); Mr. Boni Haruna (Adamawa); Alhaji Abdulkadir Kure (Niger); and Benue State Deputy Governor, Mr. Ogiri Ajene.

Yerima, who was flanked by Haruna, Kure and Ajene, described the ongoing constitution amendment as a dangerous development, which could throw Nigeria into chaos.

He said that the inadequacies of the 1999 Constitution should not be a ploy for anyone or group to foist a personal agenda on Nigerians.

He described the amendment process as a sham and a charade aimed at eroding the federal structure of the nation.

He added, 展e appeal to all Nigerians to rise up to the occasion and resist the unpardonable attempt to foist on the people of this great country the third term project which is not only selfish but the path to dictatorship, anarchy and total reversal of our democratic rebirth.

展e call on our other colleagues to be on the side of history and the people in our resolve to bequeath to the people sustainable democracy by seeing through this deception of third term.

展e note with concern the growing brazen manner the constitution amendment process is so far being conducted.

擢rom the so-called zonal public hearings to the shameless attempt in the Senate recently to smuggle an amendment to the 登riginal・bill that would provide for tenure elongation or third term for the governors, who were 妬nadvertently・omitted in the original bill even after it went through the first reading), it is evident that the whole idea of the entire constitution amendment was not meant to bring about national stability, unity and sustenance of our democratic rebirth.

迭ather, it is a roadmap to national instability, confusion and total distortion of our constitutional order.

徹rdinarily, in a democratic country, which we are aspiring to fully become, constitution amendment is a normal democratic process that is supposed to be scrupulously guided by the constitutive and regulative rules and should reflect the popular wish of the people.

展hile we concede that the country痴 1999 Constitution is not a perfect document, its fallibility must not be used as an excuse for tinkering to accommodate a personal agenda.

展e, therefore, condemn in the strongest possible terms the whole idea of the ongoing constitution amendment whose primary objective is to achieve the third term agenda.

展e equally condemn other dangerous aspects of the amendment which seek to bring unitarism as against true federalism that is anchored on devolution of powers to the constituent units of the federation.

的t is our candid opinion that all provisions in the constitution amendment bill that seek to erode the country痴 federal structure in terms of powers and responsibilities of the constituent units should not be considered.・

Yerima urged the members of the National Assembly to throw out the third term bill.

Fourteen out of the 19 states were represented at the meeting. Those in attendance were nine governors and five deputy governors.

The governors came from Kaduna, Borno, Niger, Bauchi, Adamawa, Zamfara, Kano, Sokoto and Gombe.

The deputy governors were those of Benue, Katsina, jigawa Taraba and Nasarawa.

Earlier at the end of their short audience with the forum, Chukwumerije, who briefed newsmen in company with Senators Tokunbo Afikuyomi, Saidu Dansadu, Idris Kuta and Ben Obi, urged the governors to avert a political disaster in the country.

Reading from a text of the group痴 statement to the forum, Chukwumerije said, 添our excellencies, you know better than many of us that Nigeria is once again at the crossroads. Do we turn left or to the right?

鄭 turn to the left will lead us to political instability and economic retardation. A turn to the right will lead us to the consolidation of our democracy and pace of economic development.

典he 2007 Movement believes that the only option that we have now for the consolidation of our democracy and continued economic growth is retention of the two-term executive tenure in the constitution and rejection of temptation to executive tenure elongation.

展e appeal to you to rise to the full potential of your greatness as leaders of this nation by rejecting the satanic temptation of executive tenure extension.

展e reiterate our conviction that Nigeria stands today on a precipice of disaster and Allah has placed you in key positions to save the nation. Nigeria痴 greatness lies in institution building, not in hero-worship and personalisation of policies.・

THE PUNCH, Friday April 28, 2006