Friday, December 16, 2005

ICAN president wants Obasanjo to stay till 2011
From Mathias Okwe, Abuja

PRESIDENT Olusegun Obasanjo's alleged third term bid received a boost yesterday with its ratification by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) President, Otunba Abdul Lateef Owoyemi.

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Owoyemi, who claimed to be speaking for his association, argued that President Obasanjo's tenure should be further extended for another four years to enable him continue his anti-corruption war.

By his calculation, Owoyemi would want the President to end his administration in 2011.

The ICAN president spoke in Abuja yesterday at the presentation of a book, Budget Implementation and Value for Money - The Due Process Experience, written by Mr. Sam Afemikhe.

The ICAN president also called on other professional associations not to continue playing the ostrich but discuss the said extension bid objectively on its merit and demerits as opposed to politicians who have been speaking for or against it based on either ambition or selfish reasons.

His words: " Over the past 12 months, there's no educated Nigerian that I have talked to, especially Chartered Accountants, that has not expressed serious worries about the sustainability of the various major anti-corruption initiatives of the current civilian administration, including the Due Process; EFCC; ICPC et al, when the mandate of the administration comes to an end in 2007.

"Will Nigeria slide back into our old bad way? Will it once more be business as usual? Will all the pains and sufferings of the last six years of belt tightening, having to work hard to earn every naira, and so forth become lost investment and self-imposed stakanovistic impositions? Or will those policies of bitter and necessary reform medications, as they are being taken through full dosage, lead ultimately to the transformation of the country?

"It is therefore, the strong view of ICAN that this issue is of such a monumental importance to the welfare and wellbeing of all Nigerians that the public opinion moulding work should no longer be left solely to our politicians, almost all of who, have been speaking for or against it largely from the platform of self-interest and personal ambition,'' he said

He then called on each professional institute and group in Nigeria to establish committees to examine the issue clinically and dispassionately and make available to the public their informed conclusions and recommendations.

His words: "If it is desirable that the current President should have a tenure enhancement in the country's best interest, should the same apply to state governors and other elected state functionaries? he queried.

"Nigerians are genuinely and justifiably worried about the emergence of a dictator or president for life. If the Constitution should, in the best interest, be amended for a possible third term, can the amendment not be such that it must terminate in 2011 and thereafter foreclosed?

"Professional groups should speak out and as fearlessly as possible. On momentous political debates like this, it is not in our best interest that reputable professional bodies and institutes should continue to keep aloof and seemingly uninterested,'' Owoyemi said.

Also at the event, Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, warned corrupt public and private officials in Nigeria that the commission has adopted a zero tolerance for corruption in the country and that next year would witness an onslaught on whoever has corrupt tendencies.