Why I turned down Obasanjo’s N250 million for third term agenda — Wabara

Adolphus Wabara, the former president of the Senate, has disclosed that he turned down N250 million to fund former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s third-term ambition.

When questioned if this claim was true, in an extract from the Monday-released YouTube interview series “Untold Stories with Adesuwa,” he responded, “That’s very correct.”

The third-term agenda, which included a constitutional reform package intended to permit then-President Olusegun Obasanjo to compete for a third term in office, represented a turning point in Nigeria’s 25 years of continuous democracy.

Speaking further, Wabara revealed that while he didn’t believe the stories that some senators received N50 million at the time, he received N250 million bribe, which was brought to him in a G-Wagon at 1:20 a.m.

Wabara also stated that his educational background played a huge role in rejecting the third-term agenda.

“I turned down a N250 million bribe to support the third term agenda. The money came to me by 1:30 a.m., before my third-term speech. It came in a sparkling black G-Wagon. I can still remember that it was in a black G-Wagon and a rickety 504 station wagon. The money was discharged, and my wife was there.”

Highlighting the significance of the decision, Wabara stated that if the third-term agenda had stood, other presidents wouldn’t have emerged.

“Without people like us, there wouldn’t be democracy now. Yes, if we had supported the third term, you know, I mean we would have had dictatorship, tyranny, and people like Buhari wouldn’t have emerged. Even the present Tinubu would not have emerged because Obasanjo would have still been there,” he said.

Speaking on the current state of affairs in the country, Wabara lamented that those in power had unfortunately weaponized poverty.

His words: “Hunger misdirects, and my people say that when you are having leaves or whatever the goat eats, you are the person they will continue to follow. That is what is happening in our democracy today because of hunger. The elders and the politicians—those in government—are not creating the enabling environments to eschew hunger.

“It is a deliberate act to continue to make the electorate hungry so that they will continue to follow sheepishly. So, there will be stomach infrastructure before they start thinking whether we are being led aright.”

He also clarified that he was not removed from office by Obasanjo but resigned while reiterating that there was no pressure.