Obasanjo Sought Third Term, I Reported Him to President Bush, Mandela, Claims Orji Kalu
Former Abia State Governor and Senate Chief Whip, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, has reignited the long-debated controversy surrounding former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s alleged third-term ambition, insisting that the ex-president indeed sought to extend his tenure beyond the constitutional two-term limit.
In a recent interview, Kalu claimed that Obasanjo personally confided in him about his desire to amend the constitution to enable a third term in office.
According to him, the conversation took place at the Presidential Villa during Obasanjo’s tenure. He alleged that several governors were approached to support the plan, though a few, including himself and President Bola Tinubu (then governor of Lagos State), rejected the idea.
“Yes, of course, he told me in the Villa,” Kalu said. “He had already convinced some governors. They are alive today.
They were all governors when I was governor. They agreed to support him for a third term, but people like me, including President Tinubu, said no. That was where my problem with him started.”
The former governor revealed that he informed former U.S. President George W. Bush and the late South African leader Nelson Mandela about Obasanjo’s third-term intentions.
“I was the one who told President Bush. I was the one who told Mandela, may his soul rest in peace. They sent for him and asked if he was running for a third term. He also met with President Thabo Mbeki in New York during the UN General Assembly that year,” Kalu stated.
He maintained that the United States played a crucial role in halting the attempt, describing the American government under President Bush as instrumental in defending Nigeria’s democracy.
“The U.S. helped to stop him, and that was it. The U.S. government supported us in stopping him. Nigeria must be grateful to the United States of America, who stood for what was right,” he added.
Kalu dismissed Obasanjo’s repeated denials of ever seeking a third term, saying, “Let him not annoy the gods of our land. He wanted a third term, and we stopped him. He cannot rewrite history.”
He further stated that Obasanjo often cited examples of long-serving African leaders such as Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi and others as justification for extended rule, but insisted that Nigeria’s democratic constitution must remain sacrosanct.
“The beauty of constitutional democracy is term limits. Anyone who wants to go beyond eight years is challenging God. It is not right,” he said.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has consistently denied ever seeking a third term, famously saying, “I am not a fool. If I wanted a third term, I know how to go about it, and there is no Nigerian, dead or alive, who can say I told him I wanted a third term.”
The third-term debate remains one of the most contentious issues of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, and Kalu’s latest revelation has once again brought the issue back into the national spotlight.
