Political commentator and ex-federal legislator, Dr. Usman Bugaje, has challenged former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s claim that he never attempted to secure a third term, insisting the former leader “did everything within his power” to elongate his stay in office.
Obasanjo, speaking at a democracy dialogue organised by the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation in Ghana last week, dismissed the long-running debate, saying: “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.”
But on Monday, during an interview on Arise Television’s Morning Show, Bugaje — who served in the National Assembly during Obasanjo’s tenure — insisted that legislators at the time were well aware of the third-term campaign.
Advertisement
To order your copy, send a WhatsApp message to +1 317 665 2180
“I can confirm to you that Obasanjo looked for a third term. He did everything that he could within his power to get a third term, but he failed to do so,” Bugaje stated.
He argued that Obasanjo’s rebuttal was not credible, stressing that many lawmakers faced harassment from the president’s allies.
“Now, the fact that he did not take a telephone to make a particular call to anybody is not sufficient evidence that he did not look for a third term. It’s just a matter of style, but all of us in the National Assembly at that time knew beyond any doubt that he worked day and night, and many of us were threatened by his own agents,” he said.
Bugaje also recalled that some lawmakers faced intimidation, pointing to the ordeal of Senator Victor Lar, then leader of the Northern caucus in the House of Representatives, who he said was forced into hiding multiple times before a crucial meeting to resist the agenda.
“Those people who actually distributed the money and threatened us are alive. Those who received the money are alive. Those who refused to receive the money are alive. There is sufficient evidence… this is a matter that is incontrovertible, there is no way he can deny it,” Bugaje added.
The controversy around the “third term agenda” came to the fore in 2006 when a constitutional amendment — which sought to permit presidents to serve three consecutive terms — was tabled before the National Assembly.
The proposal, believed to have been championed by Obasanjo’s allies as he approached the end of his second term, was struck down after a stormy debate.
Civil society organisations, opposition parties, and even members of the then-ruling Peoples Democratic Party mounted strong resistance, warning that the amendment would undermine Nigeria’s democracy.
Its collapse ultimately ended speculation about Obasanjo’s ambition and paved the way for the 2007 elections, which produced the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as president.
Obasanjo had similarly dismissed the third-term allegation in his 2023 New Year address, declaring he could have achieved it if he wished, insisting he was “audacious enough” to make it happen.
Nevertheless, former Senate President Adolphus Wabara previously alleged that he was offered a N250 million bribe to back the plan but refused. In a January 2024 interview for the YouTube series “Untold Stories with Adesuwa,” Wabara said, “That’s very correct.”
Additionally, former vice president and PDP presidential flagbearer Atiku Abubakar claimed his close rapport with legislators helped derail Obasanjo’s third-term push. Atiku noted that his ties with the National Assembly at the time made it possible to resist the effort, and added that he intended to revive such alliances if elected president.
