BEVERLY HILLS, August 03, (THEWILL) – Former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, says it is not true that obeying the President tantamounts obeying the country, asserting that he has no regret aborting third term agenda which was pushed at the twilight of the administration of former president Olusegun Obasanjo.
Speaking while chairing a national seminar on the theme “Unity in diversity: Security and national development” at the Department of State Services, DSS’ Institute of Security Studies in Abuja, he stated that if given another opportunity, he would still lead the Senate to ensure that such a bid does not see the light of day.
THEWILL recalls that the Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose had stated recently that Obasanjo wanted to have a third term in office, disclosing that the ex-president had gone to ask Libya’ s late leader, Muammar Ghaddafi to support his third term bid, but was treated “like a serf”.
Speaking at the seminar, Nnamani said, “What I want to talk about is the issue of general agitations. I hope you don’t go with the comment of the former Inspector General of Police (IGP), Solomon Arase, that if you obey Mr President as a symbol of Nigeria, you have obeyed the country. It is not necessarily correct in all cases.
“If you read the revelation of the Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, about Obasanjo, which has not been denied, you will understand that the statement from Arase is not true. For instance, he said on the issue of third term that Nnamani cannot go free; whatever that means I don’t know.
“Yes, I presided over the plenary for third term, and all that I needed was to call a spade by its name. If I have the opportunity to do it again, I will do the same thing,” he said.
While reiterating the call for restructuring of the country, the former Senate President however dismissed insinuations that one region is depending on the other to survive.
According to him, “Those against restructuring or devolution of power to the state will later see the need for it. If only we can make haste while the sun shines it might help our country. Each state in Nigeria has its own peculiarities. Yes, it might not be on equal proportion as of today.
“For instance, certain crops that grow in the North may have difficulty surviving in the South and the other way round. In my view, the South needs the North just as the North needs the South.
“So, the concept of any section being a parasite is not correct, because we are naturally endowed as a nation; and if we look properly inwards, we will identify those potential areas which we can turn into high productivity and revenue, we will find out that we are gifted and naturally blessed.”
Nnamani maintained that the issue of fiscal federalism should be taken seriously if the country must enjoy stability which, he said, is a prerequisite for growth and development of a nation.
