A former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has said that he would have succeeded if he wanted a third term as was suggested towards the end of his presidency in 2007.
Obasanjo, however, said that he never wanted to elongate his tenure as the bill proposing a third term for Nigeria’s president was initiated by the National Assembly and not himself.
In an interview with Channels Television on his tenure between 1999 and 2007, Obasanjo told the television station: “If I wanted a third term, I know how to go about it.
“And there is nothing I wanted that God has not given me.”
He denied ever toying with the idea of a third term.
He said those who spoke about his alleged move to secure a third term, including his then deputy, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, have never mentioned that he discussed the issue with anyone.
Rather, he said this has been based on hearsay.
Obasanjo said the third term clause in the proposed amendment of the Constitition then was just one of the over 100 items for amendment.
He said the bill was initiated by the National Assembly, adding that the then Chairman of the joint committee of the National Assembly on the review of the constitution, Senator Ibrahim Mantu, never said he initiated or mandated the committee to include the clause in the proposed amendment.
He also said his then Liaison Officer to the National Assembly, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, denied that the Presidency initiated the proposed amendment to the elongation of the tenure of the preseident.
He added: “There is no one that is close to me that can say I even mentioned to him that I was ever interested in a third term.”