Obasanjo Rejected Asylum, Faced Arrest Under Abacha

Olusegun Obasanjo, the former president of Nigeria, shared his experience during the Abacha regime, specifically his decision to return to Nigeria rather than seek asylum. In 1995, he was detained and sentenced to life imprisonment for an alleged coup plot.

While in Copenhagen, Denmark, attending the World Social Summit as a United Nations Human Development Ambassador, he was warned by the then United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Walter Carrington, about the risk of arrest upon his return and was offered political asylum, which he declined. Obasanjo stated, “Na my own car I use drive myself go police station,” highlighting his choice to face the consequences.

He was subsequently tried and sentenced by a military tribunal, alongside Major General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, who also received a life sentence and died in detention. International figures, including former US President Jimmy Carter, intervened for his release, which occurred in June 1998 after Abacha's death.

Obasanjo later became the presidential candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party and won the 1999 election, restoring civilian rule.