Aisha Yesufu, an activist, goes tough on Buhari
OpenLife Nigeria reports that as the world celebrates Easter to mark the birth and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Aisha Yesufu, has raised concerns over a rumoured 3rd term in office for President Muhammadu Buhari.
Aisha Yesufu is a Nigerian socio-political activist who co-convened the Bring Back Our Girls Movement, an advocacy group that brought attention to the abduction of over 200 girls from Chibok Secondary School, Nigeria, on April 14, 2014 by a terrorist group, Boko Haram.
Speaking in a video that has gone viral, the activist cautioned President Buhari to bury the thought of seeking a 3rd term in office under any guise.
She reminded Buhari and his handlers that Nigeria would go to war if any attempt is made to alter the constitution for a 3rd term in office.
“Enough is enough. Nigeria is not a banana republic. You enslaved our parents, you enslaved us. But we will not allow you to enslave our children and the children yet unborn.
“We will not allow charlatans to impose 3rd term. I will not allow anybody to alter our constitution for 3rd term. Nigeria belongs to us all.” Aisha Yesufu vowed.
Meanwhile, the rumour for a 3rd term in office for President Buhari has been long in coming.
In October 2019, barely four months when President Buhari assumed office on the 2nd leg of his 8-year tenure, the Presidency had reasons to issue a statement denying any 3rd term ambition for Buhari.
In the statement, the Presidency described the rumour as “internet-based gossip and un-informed media commentary”, insinuations that President Muhammadu Buhari would embark on a third term ambition with effect from 2023.
Garba Shehu, senior special assistant to Buhari on media affairs added in the statement that Buhari would “serve his full second elected term in office, ending 2023 and then there shall be a general election in which he will not be a candidate,” he clarifies adding that
“There are no circumstances nor set of circumstances under which President Buhari may seek to amend the Constitution regarding the two-term limit on holding office as President.
“There is not even the faintest possibility that this will change. It is important to note that there was a past attempt to change the constitution to allow for the then incumbent president to stand for a third term.
“That attempt was wrong, unconstitutional and rightly rebuffed. No such attempt will happen under this President.
“President Buhari is a democrat. He respects the constitution. Any activity aimed at altering the two-term limit will not succeed and shall never have his time nor support.”
But Aina Bola, an information technology expert, sees it differently.
To Bola, all the necessary signals for the take off of 3rd term are in place and already manifest in the political space.
Said he: “All that are required for a third term in office are already on ground. They are already giving the hint stylishly. Come 2023, election can be suspended due to the secession struggle, banditry, insurgency and general insecurity.”
However, despite numerous denials from the Presidency, rumours have remained rife that Buhari is planning a third term on the expiration of his second term in 2023 so much so that Senate President Ahmad Lawan who has long been accused of being a legislative figurehead for President Muhammadu Buhari says he’ll never be in support of a 3rd agenda for the 78-year-old former military ruler.
Lawan assured Nigerians he will always uphold the constitution and never support any rumoured third term agenda for President Muhammadu Buhari.
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