Why I Rejected US Asylum Offer Before Abacha Arrested Me — Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has explained why he rejected an offer of political asylum from the United States before returning to Nigeria, where he was arrested and imprisoned by the military regime of the late General Sani Abacha in 1995.

Obasanjo recounted the experience during an event organised by the Department of School Library and Media Technology at the University of Ibadan, where he reflected on his military career, retirement, farming activities and subsequent imprisonment.

The former president said he retired from the military at the age of 42 after serving as Nigeria’s Head of State between 1976 and 1979. He subsequently ventured into farming, an activity he said was progressing successfully before his arrest.

According to him, Abacha had allegedly decided that he must be eliminated to enable the military ruler to achieve his political objectives.

Obasanjo explained that while he was travelling abroad, the then United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Walter Carrington, contacted him and informed him that the American government was prepared to grant him political asylum because of the threat of arrest upon his return.

However, he said he rejected the offer because he did not believe he had committed any offence that justified seeking refuge outside Nigeria.

“What do they want to arrest me for? I don’t want political asylum,” he recalled saying.

Obasanjo said that upon arriving in Nigeria, his international passport was seized. He later proceeded to his farm in Ota, Ogun State, where he discovered that security operatives had surrounded the premises.

He narrated that a police officer in civilian clothing subsequently approached him, claiming that an Assistant Inspector-General of Police wanted to see him.

The former president challenged the manner of the invitation, insisting that a senior police officer who needed his assistance should approach him directly.

He eventually drove himself to the police station, where he was informed that there was an order for his arrest.

Obasanjo was arrested in March 1995 over allegations of involvement in a plot to overthrow Abacha’s government. He was tried by a military tribunal and sentenced to life imprisonment, a sentence later reduced to 15 years.

He was released in June 1998 following Abacha’s death and went on to win the 1999 presidential election, serving two terms in office until 2007.

His latest account has brought renewed attention to his experience under military rule and the political circumstances surrounding his imprisonment.