Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has revealed how he rejected an offer of political asylum from the United States before returning to Nigeria and facing imprisonment under the late General Sani Abacha’s military regime.
Obasanjo said American officials warned him that he would be arrested if he returned home. However, he declined the offer because he believed he had committed no offence.
The former president recounted the experience in a video published by BBC News Pidgin on Tuesday, November 10, 2026.
He explained that he ventured into farming after leaving the military in 1979. At 42, he had already become a four-star general and served as Nigeria’s military Head of State.
“I had become a four-star general. There’s nothing else I can do in the army. I had become the military head of state. That’s the highest political office I could rise to,” he recalled.
Obasanjo said farming initially went well until his arrest disrupted his activities.
US Offered Obasanjo Political Asylum
According to Obasanjo, the American ambassador to Nigeria contacted him while he was travelling abroad.
The ambassador reportedly informed him that the United States government had offered him political asylum because of concerns that Abacha’s government planned to arrest him.
However, Obasanjo said he rejected the offer and decided to return to Nigeria.
“This was difficult for me. I don’t — I haven’t done anything. What do they want to arrest me for? I don’t want political asylum,” he said.
He added that authorities seized his passport when he arrived in Nigeria.
Obasanjo subsequently travelled to his farm, where his security personnel informed him that government operatives had surrounded the property.
Obasanjo Recalls Confrontation With Police
The former president said a police officer dressed in plain clothes later approached him at the farm.
The officer reportedly informed him that an Assistant Inspector-General of Police wanted him to come in for questioning.
Obasanjo rejected the manner of the invitation, insisting that the senior police officer should approach him personally if he needed his assistance.
He eventually drove himself to the police station.
According to him, the AIG informed him that he had received instructions to arrest him.
Jimmy Carter’s Intervention and Imprisonment
Obasanjo also recalled how former United States President Jimmy Carter intervened on his behalf during his detention.
He said Carter appealed to Abacha, after which authorities placed him under house arrest.
However, Obasanjo said security operatives later came for him in the middle of the night while he was playing squash.
“They came and said they were taking me away. And they took me away, and from there, I went to prison,” he recalled.
Obasanjo was arrested in 1995 over an alleged coup plot against Abacha’s government. A military tribunal sentenced him to life imprisonment, but the sentence was later reduced to 15 years.
He regained his freedom in June 1998 following Abacha’s death. The former military ruler died on June 8, 1998.
Obasanjo subsequently contested the 1999 presidential election and won, becoming Nigeria’s first elected president of the Fourth Republic. He served two terms before leaving office in May 2007.
