Political activist and former federal lawmaker, Dr. Usman Bugaje, has reignited debate over the controversial “third term agenda” of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, insisting that the ex-leader not only sought to extend his stay in office but also deployed threats and inducements against lawmakers who resisted the move.
Obasanjo, while speaking at a democracy dialogue hosted by the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation in Ghana last week, had dismissed the long-debated allegation, saying he never lobbied anyone to alter the constitution in his favour.
“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 declared.
But Bugaje, who served in the National Assembly during the administration, appeared on Arise Television’s Morning Show on Monday, insisting that Obasanjo’s denial was hollow.
“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 said.
The former lawmaker argued that the absence of a direct phone call did not absolve Obasanjo, pointing instead to the activities of his political foot soldiers who allegedly threatened and bribed legislators to push through a constitutional amendment.
“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,” Bugaje maintained.
He recalled incidents of harassment, noting that Senator Victor Lar, then leader of the Northern caucus of the House of Representatives, was forced into hiding on multiple occasions before a decisive meeting that thwarted the extension bid.
Obasanjo third term agenda resurfaces as Bugaje, Wabara and Atiku recall threats, bribes, and intimidation in National Assembly
“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 stressed.
Bugaje’s fresh intervention echoes earlier testimonies by top politicians who were at the heart of the 2006 constitutional review saga.
Former Senate President Adolphus Wabara had, in January 2024, claimed during an interview series Untold Stories with Adesuwa that he rejected a ₦250 million bribe allegedly offered to secure support for Obasanjo’s third term project.
“That’s very correct,” Wabara affirmed, standing by his earlier account that cash inducements were a central tool of the failed agenda.
Also, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who had a well-publicized political rift with Obasanjo towards the end of their administration, stated that his strong ties with National Assembly members were instrumental in stopping the amendment.
Atiku explained that his working relationship with lawmakers helped mobilize resistance against the plan, ensuring that the constitution was not altered to favour a third presidential term.
The third term controversy erupted in 2006 when the National Assembly considered amendments to the 1999 Constitution. Among the proposals was a clause that would have allowed presidents to serve three consecutive terms instead of the existing two-term limit.
The move triggered nationwide outrage, with civil society groups, opposition politicians, and even factions within the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) mobilizing against it. Critics argued that the attempt would derail Nigeria’s young democracy, entrench authoritarianism, and set a dangerous precedent.
Despite heavy lobbying, threats, and alleged financial inducements, both chambers of the National Assembly eventually struck down the proposal after heated debates. The rejection effectively ended Obasanjo’s chances of remaining in power beyond May 2007 and cleared the path for the election of his successor, the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
Comments 1