A former state governor and a serving minister have detailed the behind-the-scenes role played by the late media mogul Raymond Dokpesi in stopping a controversial bid to extend former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s time in office.
The revelations were made by the Minister of Regional Development, Engr. Abubakar Momoh, and Senator Adams Oshiomhole at a lecture in Abuja honouring the late founder of AIT and Raypower.
The event, the 2nd Raymond Aleogho Dokpesi Diamond Lecture, was organised by DAAR Communications and the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations.
The so-called “third-term agenda” was a political initiative during Mr Obasanjo’s second term that sought to amend the constitution to allow a sitting president to serve more than two terms. It sparked widespread concern about a potential threat to Nigeria’s young democracy.
Minister Momoh, who was a member of the National Assembly at the time, stated that Mr Dokpesi had not received due recognition for his pivotal contributions during that period.
He explained that the media executive combined personal lobbying with his media influence to protect Nigeria’s democratic system.
“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’,” Mr Momoh recounted.
“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 added.
“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.”
Senator Oshiomhole, the former governor of Edo State, emphasised Mr Dokpesi’s use of his media platforms, Africa Independent Television (AIT) and Raypower FM Radio, to ensure transparency and hold lawmakers accountable.
“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,” Mr Oshiomhole said.
He contrasted this with contemporary media practices, noting, “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,” he stated.
“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.”
The governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, who also spoke at the event, commended Mr Dokpesi for his contribution to Nigeria’s democracy and lamented what he described as growing sycophancy in politics.
“I have seen people who are in front of the late President Muhammadu Buhari, but at his back, they are saying he is the worst thing to happen to Nigeria,” Mr Sule said.
The President of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Dr. Ike Neliaku, hailed the late media mogul as a visionary who transformed communication in Nigeria.
He described Mr Dokpesi as “a pathfinder who broke barriers in media, democratised information, and gave voice to the voiceless.”
“At the heart of Dr. Dokpesi’s vision was a philosophy that aligns deeply with the soul of our profession, public relations as service to society. He understood that communication is not just about media; it is about meaning. It is about connecting people to truth, leaders to citizens, and nations to the world,” Dr. Neliaku said.
Discussion about this post