Rumour had it then that former Nigeria President Olusegun Obasanjo had a unconstitutional third term agenda at the end of his second term as the president in 2007. One of the then lawmakers admitted that attempt were made to bribe each lawmaker with N50Million to buy there support in favour of the third term agenda. She did say she didn't accept the bribe. Many didn't believe her then possibly because she was in the opposition but the speculation of the agenda persisted.
However in a new talk, former president Obasanjo shed a bit of light into the issue. He admitted for the first time that he had plans for third term agenda.
“People say that it was obvious that I wanted a third term and I ask those who say I was behind the third term to bring concrete evidence to prove that I spearheaded it,” Obasanjo noted during the launch of My Watch, his autobiography.“Third term was not my agenda or intention. I didn’t mastermind third term. Those who were telling me to go on were the governors that were going to benefit from it.”
However, speaking at the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, Jonathan said: “I was a governor at that time, but due to strong resistance from the national assembly, the third-term bid failed.”Jonathan noted that Africa needed strong parliaments to checkmate presidents desperate for prolonged stay in office.“Changing constitutions to eliminate term limits in order to favour incumbents is inconsistent with democratic principles and reduces confidence in democratic institutions.“This is a disturbing precedent for the region and continent”, he added.
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