Iyabo Obasanjo, former senator representing Ogun Central, has resigned from the All Progressives Congress (APC), citing alleged persistent disrespect, rejection, and unfair treatment by the party’s leadership in Ogun State.
Her exit follows disputes surrounding the party’s governorship primaries process in which she was also a contestant, and the emergence of Senator Solomon Adeola as the consensus candidate.
The development was confirmed through her resignation letter dated May 31 and addressed to the Ogun APC chairman.
In the letter, a copy of which was made available on Monday, Obasanjo stated that her decision to leave the party was driven by what she described as exclusion and disregard from key stakeholders within the Ogun State chapter of the APC.
She maintained that although she had participated in the governorship race under the party’s platform, she was neither consulted nor included in the process that produced Solomon Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, as the consensus candidate.
She argued that the process contradicted the party’s internal guidelines and democratic expectations.
Obasanjo explained that she had initially committed to respecting any consensus arrangement adopted by the APC in good faith, but insisted that the process that led to Adeola’s emergence was neither transparent nor inclusive. According to her, the announcement of a consensus candidate was made without prior engagement with her or other affected aspirants, raising concerns about fairness and internal democracy within the party structure in Ogun State.
She further alleged that some of her supporters were denied access to the venue where the party’s governorship candidate was formally unveiled and were subjected to intimidation. These claims, she said, reinforced her perception of exclusion and marginalisation within the party’s decision-making process.
Despite her grievances, she noted that she accepted the party’s final decision in the interest of unity and publicly congratulated Adeola on his emergence on the night of the announcement.
The former senator disclosed that after the declaration, Senator Adeola reached out to her for discussions with her supporters. During the engagement, she said three requests were presented to him, although she did not disclose the specifics of those demands in her resignation statement.
The meeting, according to her, was part of efforts to manage tensions following the contentious consensus arrangement.
Obasanjo emphasised that her resignation was not taken lightly, but became necessary after repeated experiences of what she described as disregard by the party leadership in Ogun State. She maintained that her decision was rooted in principle and a desire to uphold fairness in political participation, rather than personal grievances alone.
Obasanjo, the daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, remains a notable political figure and academic based in the United States.
