African Democratic Congress presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has claimed, recounting a dramatic episode involving former President Olusegun Obasanjo during Nigeria’s military era.

Speaking to journalists on Thursday, August 20, 2026, Atiku said he learnt of an alleged plan to administer an injection to Obasanjo while both men were in prison and subsequently warned Obasanjo against accepting it.

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The former vice president said he became concerned after the death of late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, who had also been imprisoned under the military government of the late General Sani Abacha.

“I saved Obasanjo’s life in prison by leaking information about an impending injection that could have killed him,” Atiku said.

“They did the same to Yar’Adua, and when I learnt they planned to do it to him, I warned him not to allow the injection.”

Atiku made the claim while reflecting on his long and increasingly strained relationship with Obasanjo, particularly their political disagreement over Obasanjo’s unsuccessful attempt to secure a third presidential term.

Atiku served as Obasanjo’s vice president from 1999 to 2007, but their relationship deteriorated sharply during the final years of Obasanjo’s presidency.

Atiku became one of the most prominent opponents of the proposed constitutional changes that would have allowed Obasanjo to remain in office beyond the constitutionally permitted two terms.

Historical research has documented the political divisions created by the third-term controversy within the ruling Peoples Democratic Party.

The latest claim, however, concerns events that occurred years before the pair entered government together.

Obasanjo was imprisoned by the Abacha regime after being convicted of plotting a coup.

Shehu Yar’Adua, who had served as Obasanjo’s deputy during the 1976 military government, was also imprisoned and died in custody in 1997.

Accounts published over the years have alleged that concerns surrounding the treatment of prisoners went beyond ordinary medical care.

A 2013 report by Vanguard, citing sources close to the events, said Atiku had warned Obasanjo not to permit himself to be injected or have blood taken following reports concerning Yar’Adua and other prisoners.

Obasanjo himself has previously spoken about fears that he could be poisoned while in prison.

A biographical account of the former president records his claim that attempts were made to inject him with a deadly virus, although it also notes that there was no clear evidence that every alleged assassination plan was actually carried out.

That distinction is significant because Atiku’s latest account remains a personal recollection and allegation rather than an independently established finding that an injection was definitively intended to kill Obasanjo.

The political significance of Atiku’s remarks is also difficult to separate from the bitter dispute that later emerged between the two men.

Atiku was a leading opponent of Obasanjo’s third-term project, which became one of the most contentious political battles of the Fourth Republic. Academic accounts describe the attempt to extend Obasanjo’s tenure as a major source of division within the PDP and among Nigeria’s political elite.

Atiku suggested that the disagreement over the third-term bid remains central to his complicated relationship with the former president.

“Today, he wants the world to hate me because I opposed his third-term ambition,” Atiku said.

The latest revelation therefore adds another striking chapter to the complicated history between two men whose relationship moved from the shared experience of military-era imprisonment and political alliance to occupying the highest offices in Nigeria and eventually becoming fierce political opponents.

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Atiku’s account also comes as he prepares for another presidential contest in 2027, this time as the ADC candidate. His remarks place renewed attention on the personal history behind one of Nigeria’s most enduring political rivalries.