In a recent interview on Channels TV’s Sunday Politics, Senator Olusola Adeyeye revealed shocking details about former President Olusegun Obasanjo's alleged attempt to bribe National Assembly members with N70 million each to support his third-term agenda in 2006.
Senator Adeyeye recounted how lawmakers were pressured and offered financial incentives to extend Obasanjo’s stay in power beyond 2007. He disclosed that 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.
Adeyeye further explained that despite his reluctance, he was eventually convinced to go on a trip to China, only to discover that his absence was part of a ploy to sideline him from crucial deliberations on the third-term agenda.
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 constitution for personal gain.