I was offered N250m to support Obasanjo’s 3rd term agenda — Farouk Aliyu

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Former House of Representatives Minority Leader, Farouk Aliyu, has alleged that he was offered N250 million to support former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s controversial third-term agenda in 2006.

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Aliyu made the claim during an interview on the Naija Unfiltered Podcast, where he recounted his experience as a member of the House of Representatives during the debate over a proposed constitutional amendment that could have allowed Obasanjo to seek a third consecutive term.

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The former lawmaker said the alleged offer was made after then Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Chairman, Nuhu Ribadu, contacted him and asked him to come to Abuja for a meeting with Obasanjo.

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Aliyu said he initially refused to meet the former president but eventually travelled to Abuja after Ribadu appealed to him as a friend.

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According to him, he later met an unnamed individual who offered him N250 million to support the third-term project.

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

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He added that the offer was part of a wider attempt to secure lawmakers’ support for the proposed constitutional amendment.

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“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.

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Aliyu said he eventually returned to Abuja to discuss the third-term proposal and made his position clear.

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

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It would be recalled that in September 2025, Obasanjo rejected the longstanding claim, saying no Nigerian, living or dead, could truthfully say he told them he wanted a third term.

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The National Assembly rejected the proposed constitutional amendments in May 2006, effectively ending the effort to extend the tenure of the then president beyond 2007.

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Aliyu also claimed that Ribadu had told him that Obasanjo was willing to meet him personally after efforts to persuade him to support the proposal.

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He said he nevertheless maintained his opposition to the agenda and declined the alleged financial inducement.

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