Former senator and Ogun State governorship aspirant, Iyabo Obasanjo, has resigned from the All Progressives Congress, citing alleged disrespect, rejection and maltreatment by the leadership of the party in Ogun State.
Obasanjo, the first daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, announced her resignation in a letter dated May 31 and addressed to the Ogun State APC Chairman, Chief Yemi Sanusi.
Her resignation came about six months after she joined the APC and barely two months after she lost the party’s governorship ticket to Senator Solomon Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, who emerged as the APC consensus candidate for the 2027 governorship election in Ogun State.
Obasanjo, who represented Ogun Central Senatorial District between 2007 and 2011, said she was dissatisfied with the process that produced Adeola, insisting that the consensus arrangement did not comply with the party’s guidelines.
According to her, she had made it clear from the beginning of her governorship aspiration that she would respect the party’s consensus decision once properly made.
“When I started the journey to get the party’s nomination for Governor, I came to see you and I said to you and everyone both privately and publicly that I will honour the party’s consensus decision once it has been made,” she stated.
She alleged that on the day the consensus candidate was announced, her supporters were violently prevented from entering the venue of the meeting.
“When that day came, even as violence was perpetrated against my supporters to stop them from entering the venue, I maintained my calmness,” she said.
Obasanjo further complained that no prior meeting was held with her as an aspirant before the announcement was made, despite what she described as the APC’s national guidelines on consensus candidature.
“At the venue, with no prior meeting with me as a candidate, given what the national party says in its guidelines on what consensus should be, a candidate was announced.
“No one acknowledged my presence at the meeting given that I was the most prominent opposition to the candidate chosen and I had traversed the state mobilising and encouraging grassroots APC support,” she added.
Despite her reservations, Obasanjo said she accepted the outcome in the interest of party unity and issued a statement that same night congratulating the consensus candidate.
“Based on my conviction that party unity is important, I wrote my letter accepting the party’s consensus candidate that night even with the flawed process,” she said.
The former Ogun State Commissioner for Health said Adeola later contacted her and requested a meeting with her supporters.
She said during the meeting, her supporters made three requests, which she described as non-compulsory, and Adeola promised to respond within one week.
“At that meeting my people made three requests which I said were not compulsory, but he should let me know so I would inform my people of his responses, and he said I should give him a week,” she stated.
Obasanjo said she was disappointed that more than two months later, Adeola had not given her any feedback.
“Unless he gets back to me after I send this letter, he has not reached out to me after two months. This is just part of the general treatment I have received from APC of disrespect and rejection as if I was not there making contributions that increased support for the party in Ogun Central and across the state,” she said.
Announcing her exit from the party, she wrote, “A famous person once said that when disrespect is the only dish served, then one should leave the table. I am therefore leaving the APC table where I am not welcomed. This is my resignation from the party.”
She, however, thanked President Bola Tinubu and some party leaders for the cordial relationship she enjoyed during her brief stay in the APC.
“Through you, I want to thank the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for receiving me warmly as usual, and I thank you and our Ogun Central Senatorial Chairman, Chief Soremi, as both of you treated me well and I will always remember that,” she wrote.
Obasanjo formally joined the APC in January 2026 after registering as a member in Ward 11, Ibogun, in Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State, marking her return to active politics after years away from the political scene.
The post “Disrespect Is The Only Dish Served” — Iyabo Obasanjo Resigns From APC After Losing Ogun Governorship Ticket To Yayi appeared first on TheNigeriaLawyer.
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