I Was Offered N250m to Back Obasanjo’s 3rd Term – Farouk Aliyu

The former Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Farouk Aliyu has claimed that he was offered N250 million to support the controversial bid to extend former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s tenure beyond the constitutionally allowed two terms.

Aliyu made the allegation while recounting his experience as a federal lawmaker during the 2006 constitutional amendment debate that became known as the third-term controversy.

The former lawmaker said the offer was made as efforts intensified to secure the backing of members of the National Assembly for the proposed amendment.

He spoke during an interview on the Naija Unfiltered Podcast, where he gave an account of how he was approached and the role he said some political figures played in the process.

According to Aliyu, the issue became serious after Nuhu Ribadu, who was then Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, contacted him and asked him to come to Abuja.

Aliyu said Ribadu wanted him to meet with Obasanjo over the matter.

He explained that he initially declined the invitation because he did not want to be involved in discussions concerning the proposed extension of the president’s tenure.

The former lawmaker, however, said he later changed his mind after Ribadu appealed to him as a friend.

Aliyu travelled to Abuja and, according to his account, subsequently met an unnamed person who allegedly presented him with N250 million as an inducement to support the third-term proposal.

He said he rejected the money and maintained his opposition to the plan.

“Third term was real. In fact, N250 million was given to me. I didn’t take it,” Aliyu said.

The former Minority Leader further alleged that other lawmakers were also approached with large sums of money as part of efforts to secure sufficient support for the constitutional amendment.

“Masari, who was speaker then, 500 million naira was given. He didn’t take. Abdul Ningi, majority leader, was given 400 million. He didn’t take. And N50 million was just dashed to small, small fries,” he alleged.

Aliyu was referring to Aminu Bello Masari, who served as Speaker of the House of Representatives at the time, and Abdul Ningi, who was a prominent member of the House during the period.

He did not identify the person who allegedly offered him the N250 million.

The former lawmaker also said he eventually returned to Abuja to participate in discussions surrounding the proposed constitutional amendment.

According to him, he made his position clear during the discussions and told those involved that the proposal would not succeed.

“I came back to Abuja to discuss the third term, and I told them it won’t fly,” he said.

The third-term controversy remains one of the most notable political episodes of the administration of Obasanjo, who governed Nigeria from 1999 to 2007.

The 1999 Constitution limited the president to two four-year terms. Obasanjo had been elected in 1999 and re-elected in 2003.

The constitutional amendment process in 2006 sought to make several changes to the 1999 Constitution.

One of the most politically sensitive proposals was the possibility of allowing Obasanjo to remain in office for another term.

In May 2006, the Senate rejected the constitutional amendment that would have opened the way for Obasanjo to seek another term.

The third-term controversy eventually ended without a constitutional change, and Obasanjo left office in 2007 after completing his second elected term.

In September 2025, the former president again denied that he personally pursued a third term in office.

Speaking at a Democracy Dialogue organised by the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation in Accra, Ghana, Obasanjo challenged anyone with evidence that he personally solicited support for another term to present it.

“I’m not a fool. If I wanted a third term, I know how to go about it. And there is no Nigerian dead or alive that would say I called him and told him I wanted a third term,” Obasanjo said.

Obasanjo also argued that if he had genuinely wanted another term, he had the political capacity to secure it, comparing such an achievement with the debt relief obtained by his administration.

For instance, former Abia State governor and current senator, Orji Uzor Kalu, later said Obasanjo personally discussed the third-term ambition with him. Kalu’s account was reported after Obasanjo’s September 2025 denial.