Nigerian Senate rejects third term for Obasanjo

ABUJA, May 16 (Reuters) Nigerian senators today threw out a bill to amend the constitution, defeating a campaign by supporters of President Olusegun Obasanjo to let him stand for a third term in elections next year.

The surprise vote was greeted with dancing, shouts of joy and hugs among many senators, who had argued that the amendment was a threat to democracy in Africa's biggest oil producing country.

''The Senate has said clearly and eloquently that we will discontinue further processes on this amendment bill,'' Senate President Ken Nnamani said after senators resoundingly voted against giving the bill a second reading.

Elections next year should mark the first time in Nigerian history that a civilian president hands over to another through elections, but the third-term campaign had jeopardised that.

''The bill is dead. It cannot be brought again until the lifespan of this Senate terminates. That is victory for democracy,'' said Senator Abu Ibrahim of the opposition All Nigeria People's Party in Katsina state.

Today's vote surprised Obasanjo's backers, who had hoped to prolong the debate and allow lobbying to intensify. They had expected the decision to come in two weeks during a clause-by-clause debate, when its supporters would have required a two-thirds majority in the 109-member chamber.

But opponents said they brought forward the vote to Tuesday because they had a simple majority of 60 senators committed to voting against it.

Any attempt to re-introduce a bill to amend the 1999 constitution would now need two-thirds support of both houses, which makes it all but impossible, senators said.

DEATH THREATS, BRIBERY, BLACKMAIL Opposition lawmakers said they were subjected to death threats, bribery and blackmail to support the third term in the face of massive opposition in the country at large.

A former military ruler, Obasanjo returned to power in 1999 elections that restored democracy in Africa's most populous nation after three decades of almost uninterrupted dictatorship.

Supporters had argued that Obasanjo needed more time to pursue his liberal economic reforms.

Analysts said the failure of the third term campaign meant there was now more uncertainty over who succeeds Obasanjo in May 2007, but this was offset by increased confidence in the political system.

The campaign has been a factor behind deadly riots in northern Nigeria, and militant attacks in the oil-producing south which have cut oil exports by a quarter.

''Nigeria has shown that it has matured politically,'' said Bismark Rewane of Financial Derivatives Co. in Lagos.

''We have had an economic transformation, with good policies that would stand the test of time, that was not backed by good politics.

This is the beginning of the political transition.'' Many in the ruling People's Democratic Party believe power should shift back to the predominantly Muslim north after eight years of Obasanjo, a Christian from the south.

But the process of choosing a successor has hardly begun because the possibility of a third term had precluded it.

Reuters SY GC2240