Bugaje dares Obasanjo: ‘‘You wanted 3rd term, I’ve proof”
A former federal lawmaker, Alhaji Usman Bugaje, has countered former President Olusegun Obasanjo that he actually wanted a third term despite his denial to the contrary.
Speaking on Arise News channels on Monday, the Katsina born former lawmaker, who represented Jabia/ Kaita federal constituency in the House of Representatives from 2003 to 2007, said Obasanjo used threat and force to sustain the third term project to no avail.
According to him, ”Obasanjo wanted a third term and I have a proof. He used threat and force but he was beaten to his game and the third term collapsed.”
He said: “I can confirm to you that Obasanjo looked for third term. He did everything that he could within his power to get third term, he failed to do so,” Bugaje declared.
“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 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 recalled how some lawmakers allegedly suffered intimidation, citing Senator Victor Lar, then leader of the Northern caucus of the House of Representatives, who, according to him, had to hide in different locations before a decisive gathering was held to resist the third-term bid.
“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.
It will be recalled that Obasanjo speaking in Accra, Ghana at the weekend, had challenged anyone with proof that he wanted a third term to come forward and prove it.
Obasanjo, who spoke as a panelist at Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s Foundation, had boasted that if he had wanted a third term he would have got it.
”There’s nobody either living or dead that would say I wanted a third term. If I had wanted it, I would have got it. I challenge anyone with proof that I wanted a third term to come forward,” he added.
But before his death Senator Ibrahim Mantu actually confessed being part of Obasanjo’s third term agenda and seek for forgiveness.
In a 2016 interview with Premium Times (before his death in 2021), Mantu stated that if he had known Nigeria would face its current problems, he “would have even taken the last drop of his blood” to ensure Obasanjo got a third term.
As the head of the Constitution Review Committee, Mantu was the primary figure pushing the agenda in the Senate.
Following the defeat of the amendment, Mantu expressed sadness and said Obasanjo was not happy. He also suggested that the plot failed because opponents successfully campaigned against it.
Mantu defended Obasanjo at the time, arguing that he deserved credit for subjecting himself to a constitutional process rather than using force like other African leaders.
