By Charles Pemu 
Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, representing Abia North, has unleashed a fierce counter-attack against former President Olusegun Obasanjo, insisting that the former President “lied” when he publicly denied seeking a third term in office.
The controversy reignited after Obasanjo’s remarks at the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation’s Democracy Dialogue in Accra in September, where he dismissed the long-standing allegation by saying, “There is no Nigerian dead or alive that would say I called him and told him I wanted a third term. I’m not a fool.”
Speaking on Channels Television’s “Politics Today” on Wednesday, Senator Kalu, who was Governor of Abia State during the period, labelled the former President’s denial as “a naked lie, a naked fallacy.”
Kalu claimed that the former President personally informed him of his ambition to extend his tenure at the Presidential Villa.
“He invited me to the Villa and told me about the third term,” Kalu stated.
The Senator further made an explosive claim of financial inducement tied to the failed constitutional amendment. “Senator Uche Chukwumerije brought N50 million, which they shared, and they asked me if I would take as a governor,” Kalu alleged. “I said no—go and give it back.”
He challenged prominent figures from that era to speak the truth, mentioning former Senate President David Mark and former National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu. “Many people who were part of that period are still alive, David Mark is alive, others are alive. They know the truth… Even the national security adviser (Nuhu Ribadu) would know Obasanjo was lying; he was at the centre of it all,” Kalu added.
Kalu revealed that his eventual sour relationship with Obasanjo stemmed from his opposition to the alleged agenda, which he took directly to world leaders.
“My quarrel with him started when I told Presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and George Bush of the United States that Obasanjo was running for a third term,” he said, adding that he also informed the late Nelson Mandela.
Kalu maintained that while Obasanjo had secured the support of some governors at the time, he and a few others stood firm against the move, citing his Christian oath to respect the eight-year constitutional limit. “I don’t know why Nigeria should be built on lies by statesmen,” he concluded.