Minister of Regional Development, Abubakar Momoh, and former Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, have credited late media mogul, Raymond Dokpesi, with playing a decisive role in stopping alleged attempts by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to extend his tenure in office.
Naija News reports that the duo spoke on Saturday in Abuja at the 2nd Raymond Aleogho Dokpesi Diamond Lecture, organised by DAAR Communications and the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), with the theme “Communication and Development.”
Momoh said the founder of Africa Independent Television (AIT) and Raypower FM combined foresight, personal engagement, and media influence to safeguard Nigeria’s democracy during the third-term saga.
The third-term proposal, which emerged during Obasanjo’s second term, sought to amend the constitution to allow a sitting president to run for another term.
It generated widespread concern among citizens and lawmakers, who warned that it posed a grave threat to Nigeria’s democratic trajectory.
Momoh noted that Dokpesi stood firm at the time, leveraging his influence in the media and political circles to resist the move.
He said, “During the fifth assembly, when there was an attempt for third term, many people were taking the credits. But Dokpesi is another man who should be credited for what happened because I was a member of the National Assembly, and on one of the occasions, he called me and said, ‘You are my brother, this issue of third term, make sure you work with your people to ensure that it does not succeed’.
“So, after the whole exercise, people were targeted, and people were taking the credit, and I said, I wish they knew the brain behind ensuring that this agenda didn’t work.
“He was that very simple man. This is because, apart from using the independent television station, he was calling people one by one, letting them know it was not a good thing and that it must not be supported.”
On his part, Oshiomhole, representing Edo North in the Senate, recalled that the late media mogul used his media platforms and made his station available to lawmakers without charging a fee.
He said Dopkesi provided a platform for non-state actors to present their perspectives, and for legislators to respond, debate, and be held accountable by their constituents.
The ex-governor said, “In Dopkesi, I saw a man who used his station, first to promote internal conversation between and within Nigerians, but never dedicated the station to running down his country.
“These days, I watch television and I see a Nigerian media station saying Nigeria has happened to you because something negative happened to someone. If anything, there are fairly many Nigerians portraying us as the worst, as if nothing good happened in this country.
“Even as we speak, go to Cameroon where a 93-year-old man just won another election.
“Do we know that Nigeria’s ability to terminate the ambition of a president from altering our constitution was a great accomplishment, and AIT played a major role in transmitting that conversation in the national assembly live without demanding money. So when senators and reps stand up to speak, they know their constituents are watching and will hold them accountable.
“So if we talk about using the media to promote national interest, Dokpesi was there. My only complaint to him, which I was able to do before he transitioned, is that he made the station available for a political party that didn’t reciprocate in the manner they should have.”
