Former House of Representatives Minority Leader Farouk Aliyu has claimed that he and former Speaker Aminu Bello Masari rejected huge sums of money offered to support efforts to extend former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s time in office.
Aliyu said he personally rejected an offer of N250 million, while Masari turned down an offer he put at N500 million.
He made the claim while speaking on the Naija Unfiltered programme carried by Symfoni, recalling the political battle over the proposed constitutional amendment in 2006.
Aliyu said the move to secure a third term for Obasanjo was real, despite Obasanjo’s later denials that he sought another term.
According to Aliyu, the then chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nuhu Ribadu, asked him to travel to Abuja to meet Obasanjo.
Aliyu said he initially refused but later accepted the invitation and attended the meeting.
He said that after the meeting, he was directed to another person whose identity he did not disclose. According to Aliyu, that person offered him N250 million to support the third term agenda.
He said he rejected the money.
Aliyu further claimed that Masari was offered N500 million and also refused.
He also alleged that former House Majority Leader Abdul Ningi was offered N400 million and rejected the offer, while ordinary lawmakers were allegedly offered at least N50 million each.
The figures have varied in Aliyu’s different accounts of the episode. In his latest telling, he put the offer to Masari at N400 million, while an earlier 2009 account attributed to him gave the figure as N500 million.
Aliyu named the late Muhammadu Buhari, then Vice President Atiku Abubakar and then Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume among those he said helped stop the proposed constitutional change.
The amendment failed in the National Assembly in May 2006.
Obasanjo completed his second term and left office in 2007, when Umaru Musa Yar’Adua succeeded him as president.
Aliyu’s claims remain allegations. No court judgment has established who allegedly offered the money or confirmed that the alleged payments took place.
Obasanjo has repeatedly denied pursuing a third term in office.
