Former Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Farouq Aliyu, has claimed that he and former Speaker Aminu Masari rejected a combined ₦650 million offer to secure their support for former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s bid for a third term. The allegations were made in an interview on the “Naija Unfiltered” podcast, which was uploaded to YouTube on Friday.
Aliyu said that during the 2000s the then Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nuhu Ribadu, approached him about the proposed constitutional amendment that would have allowed Obasanjo to seek a third consecutive term. He initially declined Ribadu’s invitation to meet in Abuja but later agreed to discuss the matter with the former president, maintaining that the plan would not succeed.
“Third term agenda was real. In fact, 250 million was given to me. I did not take it,” Aliyu said.
According to Aliyu, Ribadu directed him to meet an unnamed individual who offered him ₦250 million, a sum he refused. He also alleged that Masari, who was Speaker of the House at the time, was offered ₦400 million and rejected it, and that then Majority Leader Abdul Ningi was offered another ₦400 million and likewise declined. He added that other lawmakers were offered a minimum of ₦50 million.
These claims come amid the long‑running controversy over Obasanjo’s attempt to amend the constitution in 2006. The National Assembly rejected the proposed amendments that would have enabled a third term, and Obasanjo left office in 2007 after completing the two presidential terms permitted by the constitution.
Aliyu credited the late former military head of state Muhammadu Buhari, former Vice‑President Atiku Abubakar and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume with playing prominent roles in thwarting the amendment.
<small>Source: The Sun Nigeria — read the original story there.</small>
