Former Senator Iyabo Obasanjo has distanced herself from the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) 2027 presidential campaign, declaring that, to her knowledge, the party has no presidential candidate and insisting that her political focus remains solely on Ogun State.
Obasanjo, daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the PDP’s senatorial candidate for Ogun Central, made the remarks during an interview while speaking on the party’s preparations for the 2027 general election.
Her comments come despite the PDP’s announcement of former Cross River governorship candidate, Senator Sandy Onor, as its consensus presidential candidate in May. Onor emerged as the party’s sole aspirant following consultations and voice votes by party members and was subsequently presented with the PDP flag and certificate of return by the party’s national leadership.
However, Obasanjo said she was unaware of the development and saw no reason to campaign for a candidate she did not know.
“To my knowledge, there is no PDP presidential candidate. If it’s the one you mentioned, I don’t know him, there’s no reason for me to tell people to vote for him because at that meeting they did not actually tell us anything of the sort,” she said.
The former senator maintained that the existence of a presidential candidate was not a priority for her political campaign, stressing that her attention was fixed on issues affecting Ogun State.
“I think, really it’s not important, to be honest, if we have a presidential candidate or not because the focus of our campaign in Ogun State is Ogun State. I am not in this race as part of the national campaign; we are focused on our state,” she stated.
Asked whether she would join the PDP presidential candidate during any campaign visit to Ogun State, Obasanjo said she had not received any communication from the party’s national leadership and did not expect to participate.
“As of now, we have no information from the national office that the presidential candidate will be coming to the state. I do not believe I will be there because, again, my focus is Ogun State. I am not really focused on the national race in any shape or form,” she said.
Obasanjo recently returned to the PDP after resigning from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). She left the APC in May after failing to secure the party’s governorship ticket in Ogun State and rejoined the PDP in June, where she was immediately nominated as the party’s candidate for the Ogun Central Senatorial District.
Following her return, she pledged loyalty to the PDP’s constitution, manifesto and code of conduct, promising to prioritise the welfare and interests of the people.
Commenting on the political situation in Ogun State, Obasanjo said it was natural for political parties to seek to attract dissatisfied members from rival parties.
“Isn’t that the game in politics? Isn’t that what politics is all about? It is the job of everybody to keep their internal people together,” she said.
She also emphasised the importance of reconciliation after party primaries, noting that aggrieved members should be made to feel valued and included.
“Sometimes it’s not money. Sometimes it’s just this feeling that you are part of something. Politics is being part of a group and knowing that that group has your interests at heart,” she added.
