Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has pushed back hard against accusations from ex-Ogun State Governor Olusegun Osoba, who claimed Obasanjo misled leaders of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) during the political maneuvering ahead of the 2003 general elections.
The rebuttal came in a letter dated July 23, 2026, titled Reply to Your Inaccurate Posture: How Obasanjo Deceived Us in 2003. In it, Obasanjo dismissed Osoba’s version of events first published in The Legal Observer on July 20 as exaggerated and full of factual gaps and misunderstandings.
Central to Obasanjo’s defense was a direct denial that he ever misrepresented his intentions to Yoruba political leaders. He maintained that his political dealings had always been rooted in transparency and a concern for the national interest, regardless of who it upset.
Obasanjo pointed to his long history with the late Afenifere elder statesman, Chief Abraham Adesanya, as evidence of his good faith. Even though Adesanya repeatedly made clear the Yoruba electorate would not back his presidential bid, Obasanjo said he continued to treat him with warmth and respect whenever they met, despite their political disagreement.
He also defended his post-election decision to fold AD figures into a broad national government alongside the PDP, describing it not as a sign of political vulnerability but as a deliberate move made from a position of strength — intended to foster national unity.
Obasanjo further disputed Osoba’s account of a farm meeting at Ota, where AD governors and Afenifere leaders reportedly led by the late Chief Ayo Adebanjo — allegedly came bearing proposals to defuse the political standoff. He also rejected claims tying him to the attempted impeachment of former House Speaker Ghali Na’Abba, suggesting instead that the plot had originated from within his own administration.
Osoba’s original allegations stemmed from his 2018 memoir, “Battlelines: Adventure in Journalism and Politics,” portions of which resurfaced online recently before being republished by The Legal Observer. Osoba had claimed AD leaders were pressured — through religious, traditional, and community channels — into backing Obasanjo’s 2003 re-election bid, only to later feel betrayed by his conduct in office.
