Obasanjo, Osoba Feud Resurfaces Over 2003 Election Claims

The longstanding feud between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former Ogun State Governor Aremo Olusegun Osoba has been reignited following the republication of excerpts from Osoba’s autobiography, ‘Battlelines: Adventures in Journalism and Politics.’ In these excerpts, Osoba accuses Obasanjo of misleading the leadership of Afenifere and the six governors of the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD) into supporting his re-election in 2003, claiming that promises made were abandoned after Obasanjo secured his second term. Obasanjo responded with a rebuttal, denying Osoba’s claims and asserting that Osoba lacked full knowledge of the discussions at the time.

The timing of this renewed dispute is politically significant, as it coincides with the failure of Obasanjo’s daughter, Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, to secure the APC gubernatorial ticket. After joining the APC and expressing interest in the governorship, she resigned following the emergence of Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola as the party's consensus candidate, alleging exclusion.

Iyabo later returned to the Peoples Democratic Party and secured the Ogun Central senatorial ticket.