Former Senate President Adolphus Wabara has revealed that he
rejected the sum of N250 million to support the third-term agenda during former
President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.
In an excerpt from the YouTube interview series “Untold
Stories with Adesuwa,” released on Monday, when asked about the truthfulness of
this assertion, he said, “That’s very correct.”
The third-term agenda marked a pivotal moment in Nigeria’s
25-year uninterrupted democratic history, involving a constitutional amendment
bill aimed at allowing then-President Olusegun Obasanjo to run for a third term
in office.
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.
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