Olusola Adeyeye: I survived five assassination attempts for rejecting Obasanjo’s N70m third term bribe

Olusola Adeyeye, a former senator representing Osun central, claims lawmakers were offered N70 million each to support former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s third term bid.

In 2006, a bill to amend the 1999 constitution and extend term limits for the president by another four years failed to pass at the national assembly.

Obasanjo was president between 1999 and 2007, after leading the country as military head of state between 1976 and 1979.

His bid for a third term in office through a constitutional amendment failed after it faced rejection from various quarters.

Speaking on the botched third-term bid when he featured on Sunday Politics, a programme on Channels TV, Adeyeye said apart from himself, all senators and house of representatives members from Osun state allegedly accepted the money.

“I was the one who broke the news. In fact, I had given the news conferences twice. The newspapers did not take it seriously,” Adeyeye said.

“I broke the news that we met in a hall, and the hall was full to the extent that they had to move the barrier.

“Nobody brought money there but as we were discussing, I said I heard that the presidency had made a plan to give each of us N50 million. A principal officer of the house corrected me that it was not going to be N50 million but, it would be N70 million. That was in 2006.

“So, I said if that is the case, we would lose this battle, Obasanjo would win. Because the only way we should act to make sure Obasanjo lost this battle was for us to make as much noise as possible. That the press, the union, the academia and everybody would join us in fighting Obasanjo.”

Adeyeye said that after the press conference in Osogbo, his house and those of his colleagues were raided.

“People thought we had been given money. I never said we were given money,” he said.

“What I said was that money would be given. But was money given? Oh yes. Not only was money given, but many even fought over the money given. I am the only one from Osun who did not take money. Every member of the senate and house of reps from Osun took the money. And I knew the one who gave them the money.”

Adeyeye alleged that following the revelation, there were several attempts to assassinate him.

“I suffered more than any Nigerian legislator because of the third term. I could not live in my house for two years. I escaped five assassination attempts,” he said.

The lawmaker said he hid in the houses of five friends at different times to escape being killed.

He commended President Bola Tinubu who advised him on what to do to avoid assassination at the time.

“Thanks to Ashiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I went to his house one day and said look: I need a bulletproof vehicle. And he told me what to do,” he said.

“One of the things he told me was: Go and get many used cars — different colours and shapes. So, if I were coming to your house before I got there, I would have parked a car in your house.

“When I get to your gate, I would wind down and greet everybody to know I came in a green Honda Accord. Nobody would know I had maybe a Mercedes Benz or a Toyota parked in your house in a different colour and I would escape — all windows wound up without anybody knowing I have left your house. That is how I lived in my house for those few years.”

Adeyeye also expressed regret over the current relationship between Tinubu and Rauf Aregbesola, former governor of Osun state.

“It makes me sad that things are not working out between Aregbesola and Tinubu. They were so close,” he said.

”I was at a meeting in which Tinubu said: If you see me sleeping and you see Rauf coming with a dagar or a knife, don’t wake me up, Rauf will never injure me.”

Adeyeye said despite multiple attempts to reconcile them, his efforts have so far been unsuccessful.