Senator Ken Nnamani, Anti-Third Term Catalyst and PDP Reform Crusader
By Paul Uwadima
Senator Ken Nnamani, former Senate President is a man former President Olusegun Obasanjo would love to hate. This is because Nnamani was very instrumental to the failure of the third project of the civilian dictator.
In Obasanjo’s desperation to elongate his tenure beyond the constitutionally allowed two terms of office, no effort was spared to recruit supporters, especially at the top leadership of the National Assembly.
The Obasanjo’s men failed woefully to lure Nnamani with their dirty lucre.
It was a highly dignified Nnamani that presided over the Senate, the day that that legislative body threw away the constitutional amendment in which Obasanjo’s men had surreptitiously smuggled in clauses to extend his tenure. It was a day of glory for democracy, rule of law and due process, to the joy of Nigerians but to the chagrin of the anti-democratic forces that attempted to foist a life president on the country.
When Nnamani became the senate president on April 5, 2005, taking the post from Senator Adolphus Wabara, who was entangled with allegations of corruption, few gave him a chance to succeed.
It was a time when the senate was littered with banana peels. Senator Chuba Okadigbo (one of the finest the Senate has ever produced), Senator Evan(s) Enwerem and of course his immediate predecessor Adolphus Wabara had all been brought to their knees disgracefully by the proverbial banana peels all with the imprimatur of Obasanjo in one form or another.
At a point it was like the senate presidency seat ceded to the South East in the PDP’s zoning arrangement was a curse to the zone, to the extent that the country was deeply embarrassed by how easily Obasanjo could manipulate the zone’s Senators to work against one of their own once he takes the exalted seat.
Nnamani changed the wrong perception of Ndigbo, as a people that sent men of questionable leadership qualities to the highest legislature body of the land. He presided over the senate with forthrightness that was uncommon at the time. By his carriage and the dignity he brought to bear in office, the senate threw its support for him whenever Obasanjo tried the tricks that led to the fall of other senate presidents.
For standing up against tenure elongation, Nnamani was among the credible leaders that Obasanjo ensured that they were not given the opportunity in the platform of the PDP to test their popularity with the people during the 2007 elections. Like other senators of the era who were marginalized by the PDP leadership, Nnamani went back to private life.
A year after he left office, precisely on 6 May, 2008, he established and launched Ken Nnamani Centre for Leadership and Development in Abuja with the goal of facilitating qualitative and transformative leadership and development in Africa. The centre is also very much committed in deepening democracy in the country.
Nnamani, has in furtherance of his contribution to the strengthening of democracy and democratic ideals in the country been at the forefront of the campaign for reform in the ruling party, the PDP. He was the leader of the PDP Reform Group that played key role in the ousting of the former national chairman of the party, Prince Vincent Ogbulafor who was seen at the time as a stumbling block to reforms in the party.
At a point in the struggle for change in the PDP, members of the Reform Group were suspended from the party by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP for alleged anti-party activities.
Reacting to the suspension, Nnamani said it was part of the impunity of the Prince Vincent Ogbulafor-led PDP, which the group was fighting to correct.
He said the group had urged the PDP to revisit ways of getting delegates to its congresses and convention.
He described the PDP as a liability and that there is urgent need to reform it. He said the party has lost much credibility to the extent that whenever the party loses election, Nigerians jubilate, seeing the election as free and fair, but when the party wins, Nigerians would say that the election was rigged. He said the PDP is deceiving itself that it is the biggest in Africa as there is nothing to show for it.
“How many of us here now can say we are better off now, yes we have been in power for 11 years but are we better off today? That is a question you should ask yourself, unless we are courageous enough to ask ourselves, we will be deceiving ourselves as we go into 2011 election. We are not in this struggle to change the leadership of PDP, but to institutionalize democracy and electoral reform as well as internal democracy in PDP even in other political parties.
“PDP controls 28 out of 36 states of the federation. If we get it right in PDP, Nigeria will get it right,” he said.
Nnamani was thus a major player in the changes in the electoral act that affected the way parties conduct their primaries, which president Jonathan tried to reverse recently without success.
A true party man, the former Senate President has publicly stated that zoning is part and parcel of the PDP power sharing equation. Reacting to those who sat that zoning has past its usefulness and therefore should be discarded, the former senate president who spoke shortly after the resignation of Ogbulafor as party chairman said,” I think what you said about whether the zoning in the PDP constitution has outlined its usefulness, I don’t think you are correct because of the current issue of trying to replace the outgoing PDP National Chairman.
“If there is no zoning in PDP, why are we worried about the replacement of Ogbulafor coming from the South-East? Zoning has not lost its usefulness.
“If you lay your hands on the PDP constitution, if you go to section 7 (2c) among the objectives of the party, the issue of zoning is clearly defined there.”
Given his contributions in the deepening of democracy in the PDP and the country, this Ohio University trained business executive, and former Senate President has earned for himself a well deserved recognition as a hero of democracy.
Senator Ken Nnamani, former Senate President is a man former President Olusegun Obasanjo would love to hate. This is because Nnamani was very instrumental to the failure of the third project of the civilian dictator.
In Obasanjo’s desperation to elongate his tenure beyond the constitutionally allowed two terms of office, no effort was spared to recruit supporters, especially at the top leadership of the National Assembly.
The Obasanjo’s men failed woefully to lure Nnamani with their dirty lucre.
It was a highly dignified Nnamani that presided over the Senate, the day that that legislative body threw away the constitutional amendment in which Obasanjo’s men had surreptitiously smuggled in clauses to extend his tenure. It was a day of glory for democracy, rule of law and due process, to the joy of Nigerians but to the chagrin of the anti-democratic forces that attempted to foist a life president on the country.
When Nnamani became the senate president on April 5, 2005, taking the post from Senator Adolphus Wabara, who was entangled with allegations of corruption, few gave him a chance to succeed.
It was a time when the senate was littered with banana peels. Senator Chuba Okadigbo (one of the finest the Senate has ever produced), Senator Evan(s) Enwerem and of course his immediate predecessor Adolphus Wabara had all been brought to their knees disgracefully by the proverbial banana peels all with the imprimatur of Obasanjo in one form or another.
At a point it was like the senate presidency seat ceded to the South East in the PDP’s zoning arrangement was a curse to the zone, to the extent that the country was deeply embarrassed by how easily Obasanjo could manipulate the zone’s Senators to work against one of their own once he takes the exalted seat.
Nnamani changed the wrong perception of Ndigbo, as a people that sent men of questionable leadership qualities to the highest legislature body of the land. He presided over the senate with forthrightness that was uncommon at the time. By his carriage and the dignity he brought to bear in office, the senate threw its support for him whenever Obasanjo tried the tricks that led to the fall of other senate presidents.
For standing up against tenure elongation, Nnamani was among the credible leaders that Obasanjo ensured that they were not given the opportunity in the platform of the PDP to test their popularity with the people during the 2007 elections. Like other senators of the era who were marginalized by the PDP leadership, Nnamani went back to private life.
A year after he left office, precisely on 6 May, 2008, he established and launched Ken Nnamani Centre for Leadership and Development in Abuja with the goal of facilitating qualitative and transformative leadership and development in Africa. The centre is also very much committed in deepening democracy in the country.
Nnamani, has in furtherance of his contribution to the strengthening of democracy and democratic ideals in the country been at the forefront of the campaign for reform in the ruling party, the PDP. He was the leader of the PDP Reform Group that played key role in the ousting of the former national chairman of the party, Prince Vincent Ogbulafor who was seen at the time as a stumbling block to reforms in the party.
At a point in the struggle for change in the PDP, members of the Reform Group were suspended from the party by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP for alleged anti-party activities.
Reacting to the suspension, Nnamani said it was part of the impunity of the Prince Vincent Ogbulafor-led PDP, which the group was fighting to correct.
He said the group had urged the PDP to revisit ways of getting delegates to its congresses and convention.
He described the PDP as a liability and that there is urgent need to reform it. He said the party has lost much credibility to the extent that whenever the party loses election, Nigerians jubilate, seeing the election as free and fair, but when the party wins, Nigerians would say that the election was rigged. He said the PDP is deceiving itself that it is the biggest in Africa as there is nothing to show for it.
“How many of us here now can say we are better off now, yes we have been in power for 11 years but are we better off today? That is a question you should ask yourself, unless we are courageous enough to ask ourselves, we will be deceiving ourselves as we go into 2011 election. We are not in this struggle to change the leadership of PDP, but to institutionalize democracy and electoral reform as well as internal democracy in PDP even in other political parties.
“PDP controls 28 out of 36 states of the federation. If we get it right in PDP, Nigeria will get it right,” he said.
Nnamani was thus a major player in the changes in the electoral act that affected the way parties conduct their primaries, which president Jonathan tried to reverse recently without success.
A true party man, the former Senate President has publicly stated that zoning is part and parcel of the PDP power sharing equation. Reacting to those who sat that zoning has past its usefulness and therefore should be discarded, the former senate president who spoke shortly after the resignation of Ogbulafor as party chairman said,” I think what you said about whether the zoning in the PDP constitution has outlined its usefulness, I don’t think you are correct because of the current issue of trying to replace the outgoing PDP National Chairman.
“If there is no zoning in PDP, why are we worried about the replacement of Ogbulafor coming from the South-East? Zoning has not lost its usefulness.
“If you lay your hands on the PDP constitution, if you go to section 7 (2c) among the objectives of the party, the issue of zoning is clearly defined there.”
Given his contributions in the deepening of democracy in the PDP and the country, this Ohio University trained business executive, and former Senate President has earned for himself a well deserved recognition as a hero of democracy.
Comments
Post a Comment