Farouq Aliyu Says He Rejected N250m Bribe Over Obasanjo’s Third-Term Bid

Former Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Farouq Aliyu, has alleged that he rejected a N250 million bribe offered to him to support former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s controversial third-term bid.

Aliyu made the disclosure during an interview on the Naija Unfiltered podcast, published on YouTube on Friday.

The former lawmaker said the third-term agenda was genuine despite Obasanjo’s repeated denials that he sought to remain in office beyond the constitutionally permitted two terms.

Obasanjo served as Nigeria’s president from 1999 to 2007. In May 2006, the National Assembly rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have allowed him to contest for a third consecutive term.

According to Aliyu, Nuhu Ribadu, who was then Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), asked him to come to Abuja for a meeting with Obasanjo regarding the proposed third term.

Aliyu said he initially declined but later agreed to meet the former president. He said he told Obasanjo that the plan would not succeed.

He further alleged that a person he was directed to meet by Ribadu offered him N250 million to support the agenda, but he rejected the money.

“Third term agenda was real. In fact, N250 million was given to me. I did not take it,” Aliyu said.

He also claimed that then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Masari, was offered N400 million but rejected it, while then Majority Leader Abdul Ningi was allegedly offered the same amount.

Aliyu added that some lawmakers were allegedly offered at least N50 million to support the third-term proposal.

He credited former President Muhammadu Buhari, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, among others, with playing significant roles in opposing the bid.

Obasanjo has consistently denied seeking a third term. In September 2025, he said he never pursued such an ambition and that, if he had wanted a third term, he knew how to pursue it.

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