I rejected N250m bribe for Obasanjo’s third term because of my Soviet Union education, says Wabara

Former Senate President Adolphus Wabara has opened up on the third term brouhaha of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo who allegedly sought an extension of his tenure beyond the constitutional second-term maximum limit.

 

Wabara admitted that a bribe of N250 million was offered to him to side with the pro-third-term senators in 2006. He however said he rejected the offer because of his educational background.

 

 

 

Recall that the third-term agenda came in the form of a bill for a constitutional amendment that would see then-President Olusegun Obasanjo qualify to run for a third term in office.

 

 

 

Also recall that Wabara, who had lost his position as Senate President after resigning in the heat of a budget scandal in 2005, gave a moving speech on the floor of the Senate, which many believed changed the course of the voting that followed.

 

 

 

In a recent interview with Adesuwa Giwa-Osagie, Wabara said he had no regrets about rejecting the bribe. He said his educational background in the Soviet Union where he was trained to hate corruption, played a huge role in his decision.

 

 

 

In a snippet of the interview, Wabara said, “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.”

 

 

 

Also speaking on the current situation in the country, Wabara who is now 76 years old, said it was unfortunate that those in power had weaponised poverty.

 

 

 

He said: “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.”