After nearly 15 years away from frontline politics, the former Ogun Central senator and daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Iyabo Obasanjo has officially rejoined partisan politics. She registered with the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 elections and is confident she will “be the next Ogun Governor”.
It is a striking re-entry for a woman who left Nigerian politics after losing her Ogun Central Senate seat in 2011 to Senator Gbenga Obadara of the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). After that defeat, she returned to the United States to pursue her academic career, eventually rising to the rank of professor.
Why then has she come back? 
Why is Iyabo Obasanjo Back?
According to her, she’s back thanks to a combination of public pressure and personal conviction.
“A group of people who I did not bring together have been working, I think, for two years now”, she revealed in a radio interview with sports legend Segun Odegbami on Eagle7 Sports. “They started talking to me about a year ago, saying, ‘Look, we think you are the best candidate. We want you back.’”
The proof was in the billboards. Campaign materials bearing her picture can be found across Abeokuta; they all carry the message in Yoruba: “Omo wa ni, eniyan wa ni, ara wa ni”. This means: “She is our daughter, she is our person, she is part of us”.
Iyabo Obasanjo initially told supporters to stand down, saying she was living comfortably in the US, but she eventually relented and gave them her blessing. Shortly after, she completed her APC e-registration at Ibogun, Ward 11, in Ifo Local Government Area, formally sealing her return.
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Why Has She Switched from PDP to APC?
Her switch from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which she once represented as senator, to the APC is due to the PDP’s treatment of her. She calls it transactional and disrespectful, recounting how the party only contacted her when it needed electoral support, never for her counsel.
“I was a senator of the Federal Republic, and I knew the followership I had there. And the only time I got a call from them, it was because an election was coming”, she said bluntly. “I dropped the phone on the person”. She went further: “I just feel the individuals there are not people I want to associate with. I think they’re idiots”.
For her, joining the APC was a homecoming. “I have an absolute 100% feeling it’s my natural home”, she said.
Will Iyabo Obasanjo Win the Ogun State Governorship Election?
Iyabo Obasanjo explained that her governorship ambition targets governance gaps, improved public welfare, and long-term structural impact on Ogun State.
However, she admits there are some setbacks with her late entry into the race and limited campaign finances. But she’s unbothered. “I don’t think money makes elections. People know who will do right by them, and that is my confidence”.
One thing she is equally clear about is that she will not be using gender as a campaign tool, and she will not be backing down.
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