Iyabo Obasanjo rejoins PDP, gets Ogun central senate ticket

Ogun State PDP chairman, Abayomi Tella, receiving Senator Iyabo Obasanjo, who just decamped from the APC back to the opposition party in Abeokuta.

Senator Iyabo Obasanjo, daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who resigned her membership of the ruling All Progressives Congress last week Monday, was on Wednesday officially received back into her former party, the Peoples Democratic Party. At a well-attended carnival-like event held at the party secretariat in Abeokuta, the state chairman of the party, Dr Abayomi Tella, supported by other party leaders, presented Obasanjo with the flag of the party, announcing her as its senatorial candidate for Ogun Central ahead of the 2027 elections. The reception was preceded by a procession through major streets in Abeokuta by Senator Obasanjo, flanked by the party’s governorship candidate, Ladi Adebutu, her supporters, and PDP members from Ogun Central and other parts of the state. Speaking at the event, Tella said, “On behalf of our National Chairman, Alhaji Abdulrahman Mohammed, and the entire National Working Committee of the PDP, I, Abayomi Tella, PhD, the State Chairman of the PDP, and on behalf of PDP Ogun Central, present to our revered sister, Prof. Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, this flag as the authority of the party for her candidature for the Senate in Ogun Central”. Taking the party’s oath, Senator Obasanjo pledged her loyalty and allegiance to the PDP, its constitution, manifesto and code of conduct. “I commit myself to the ideals of the PDP. I shall serve the people of Ogun State and Nigeria with integrity, humility and dedication, prioritising their welfare above personal and sectional interests,” she declared. The former commissioner reiterated that she left the ruling party because of disrespect, betrayal and unfair treatment by the APC leadership. The 59-year-old Obasanjo said she was treated like a child by the ruling APC, hence her decision to dump the party and return to the PDP. “The APC treated me like a child whereas I will be 60 years by the grace of God next year,” Obasanjo lamented. She explained that she had decided to join APC due to the honour and regard President Bola Tinubu usually accorded her, treating her like a daughter whenever they met. Obasanjo, who spoke in Yoruba, explained that, “When I decided to go back into politics after about 20 years, I pitched my tent with the All Progressives Congress because of the way and manner the leader of the party and the President, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, usually honour me whenever I have opportunity to be with him or when we meet at fu