Obasanjo: Why I Turned Down US Asylum Before Abacha Arrested Me

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has recounted how he rejected an offer of political asylum from the United States despite warnings that the late military Head of State, General Sani Abacha, was planning to arrest him if he returned to Nigeria.

Obasanjo said he refused to seek refuge abroad because he believed he had committed no offence warranting his fleeing the country.

He made the disclosure in an interview published by BBC News Pidgin on Tuesday, in which he narrated his experiences after leaving office as military Head of State and his eventual confrontation with the Abacha regime.

The former president explained that after retiring from the Nigerian Army at the age of 42, having attained the rank of four-star general and served as military Head of State, he decided to venture into agriculture.

According to him, farming became his next pursuit because he had reached the highest position available to him in the military and had no reason to continue serving in the Army.

“When I was leaving government as military Head of State, I was leaving too early. I didn’t join the Army to retire at the age of 42.

“At the age of 42, I had become a four-star general. There’s nothing else I can do in the Army. I’ve become the military Head of State. That’s the highest political office I could rise to,” he said.

Obasanjo said his farming business was progressing successfully until the Abacha administration began taking steps against him.

He recalled that while travelling outside the country, the American ambassador in Nigeria contacted him and informed him that the United States had offered him political asylum because of concerns that he would be arrested upon his return.

The offer, he said, put him in a difficult position, but he rejected it because he did not believe he had committed any wrongdoing.

“Abacha had decided that I must be liquidated; otherwise, he would not be able to have his way. I didn’t know that. I was travelling and coming back, and the American ambassador in Nigeria called me and said his country had offered me political asylum because they knew that I would be arrested if I returned home.

“This was difficult for me. I haven’t done anything. What do they want to arrest me for? I don’t want political asylum,” he said.

He said his passport was subsequently seized, forcing him to abandon his international travels and return to his farm.

However, upon arriving at the farm, one of his security personnel informed him that government security operatives had surrounded the premises.

The development marked a turning point in his confrontation with the Abacha military government, which eventually led to his arrest.