Senator Olusola Adeyeye has revealed how former President Olusegun Obasanjo allegedly attempted to bribe National Assembly members with N70 million each to support his failed third-term agenda.
Speaking during an interview on Channels TV’s Sunday Politics, which SaharaReporters monitored, Adeyeye detailed how lawmakers were pressured and financial incentives were dangled before them to extend Obasanjo’s stay in power beyond 2007.
“That was when my struggle began,” Adeyeye recalled. “I remember very well that the Speaker said I was to lead a delegation of the House of Representatives to China. I said, ‘Mr Speaker, it does not happen that a member of the opposition will lead a parliamentary delegation to a different country. I did not feel competent. I was not the leader of my party. Dr. Wunmi Bewaji was. So if they wanted to pick a member of the opposition, why not Bewaji?’”
Adeyeye explained that despite his reluctance, he was eventually convinced to go on the trip. However, while in Amsterdam en route to China, he discovered that his absence was part of a ploy to sideline him from crucial deliberations on the third-term agenda.
“I got to Amsterdam, and I opened the newspaper and realised that they had kept me away so that I wouldn’t be present for what was supposed to be discussed at that time in the House,” he said.
“I am grateful to Aminu Bello Masari. Not only because he sent me away to protect my life but also because he gave me plenty of coverage. Aminu Bello Masari protected my life. He was the Speaker and had to pretend to be with the president. But I can tell you, he was against the third-term agenda.”
Adeyeye further disclosed that he was the one who initially broke the news of the bribery attempt, but his revelations were ignored by the media.
“I did news conferences twice, and the newspapers did not take it seriously. Sometimes, if you want your stories to be on the front page of a newspaper, believe me, you are going to pay for it,” he lamented.
Revealing the extent of the bribery attempt, Adeyeye said a principal officer of the National Assembly informed him that lawmakers were initially set to receive N50 million each, but the figure was later increased to N70 million.
“A principal officer of the House disclosed that the presidency had made plans to give each of us N50 million,” he said.
“That principal officer corrected me and said it was not going to be N50 million; it was N70 million. N70 million in 2006 was big money. I said if that is the case, we will lose this battle, Obasanjo will win this battle. The only way to make Obasanjo lose the battle is to make more noise as much as possible so that the press, the unions, and academia will join us in fighting Obasanjo.”
Obasanjo’s third-term agenda remains one of the most controversial moments in Nigeria’s political history. The former president, who had ruled Nigeria as a military head of state from 1976 to 1979, returned to power in 1999 as a democratically elected leader.
As his second term neared its end in 2007, reports emerged that he was pushing for a constitutional amendment to allow him to seek a third term.
The move sparked nationwide outrage, with civil society groups, opposition parties, and even members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) resisting the plan. Critics accused Obasanjo of attempting to manipulate the democratic process for personal gain, and there were widespread allegations of financial inducements aimed at securing lawmakers’ support.
Despite intense lobbying, protests, and political maneuvering, the third-term bid ultimately failed when the National Assembly overwhelmingly voted against the constitutional amendment in May 2006. The rejection of the bill marked a significant victory for Nigeria’s democracy, preventing what many feared would be a dangerous precedent for sit-tight leadership in Africa.
Adeyeye’s latest revelation adds fresh insight into the behind-the-scenes efforts to extend Obasanjo’s rule and the political battles fought to uphold constitutional term limits.
Source: SaharaReporters
