Posted by Chinenye on Tue 10th Nov, 2026 - tori.ng
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has revealed how he refused an opportunity to remain in America because he wanted to return to Nigeria.
(Former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Photo by The Guardian Nigera News)
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has described how he turned down an offer of political asylum from the United States and went back to Nigeria, only to be arrested and jailed under the military rule of General Sani Abacha.
He shared the account in a video published on Tuesday.
“How Abacha locked me inside pr!son, I used my own hand to drive myself to the police station” Former Nigeria President Olusegun Obasanjo explained how he go to the station when they got him arr£sted during the military regime. https://t.co/LJCFmTuxkF
— Oyindamola🙄 (@dammiedammie35) November 10, 2026
Obasanjo said the American ambassador called to say Washington had offered him asylum because it believed he would be arrested if he came home.
He refused, insisting he had done nothing wrong and had no reason to seek refuge abroad.
He also explained why he took up farming after leaving office in 1979.
He said he had reached the top of the military and government by age 42, with nothing more to do in the army, so he went into farming.
According to Obasanjo, his passport was seized when he returned.
Security operatives then surrounded his farm, and he was later taken to a police station, where an Assistant Inspector-General said he had orders to arrest him.
He recalled that former US President Jimmy Carter appealed to Abacha on his behalf, and he was moved to house arrest.
Later, about 1am one night while he was playing squash, security men came, took him away and sent him to prison.
Obasanjo said he later learned that Abacha had decided some people should not be left free because he felt unsafe.
He was released after Abacha died in June 1998.
He went on to win the 1999 presidential election and served two terms, leaving office in May 2007.