I was offered N250m to support Obasanjo’s 3rd term agenda — Farouk Aliyu
Farouk Aliyu, the former Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, has alleged that he was offered 250 million naira to support former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s controversial third-term agenda in 2006.
Aliyu made the statement during a recent interview on the Naija Unfiltered Podcast, where he reflected on his time as a lawmaker amid the heated debate regarding a constitutional amendment that would have allowed Obasanjo to pursue a third consecutive term.
According to Aliyu, the alleged offer came after Nuhu Ribadu, then chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, reached out to him to attend a meeting in Abuja with Obasanjo. Initially hesitant, Aliyu said he eventually agreed to the meeting at Ribadu’s encouragement.
During the meeting, Aliyu claimed he encountered an unidentified person who presented him with the cash offer to support the third-term initiative. “The third term was real. In fact, 250 million naira was given to me. I didn’t take it,” Aliyu stated.
He further alleged that this offer was part of a broader strategy to garner support among lawmakers for the proposed amendment. “Masari, who was speaker at the time, was offered 500 million naira, but he didn’t accept. Abdul Ningi, the majority leader, was offered 400 million naira, which he also declined. And 50 million naira was given to lesser members,” Aliyu claimed.
After reflecting on the third-term proposal, Aliyu ultimately returned to Abuja to express his opposition. “I came back to Abuja to discuss the third term, and I told them it won’t fly,” he said.
In September 2025, Obasanjo publicly rejected the claims surrounding the third-term agenda, asserting that no Nigerian, living or dead, could truthfully claim he had expressed a desire for an extension of his tenure.
The National Assembly ultimately rejected the proposed constitutional amendments in May 2006, effectively terminating efforts to extend Obasanjo’s presidency beyond its scheduled end in 2007.
Aliyu also mentioned that Ribadu had indicated Obasanjo was personally willing to meet with him in an attempt to persuade him to support the third-term initiative. Despite this, Aliyu reiterated his opposition and declined the alleged financial inducement.
