Prof. Iyabo Obasanjo, daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, has formally confirmed her membership of the ruling All Progressives Congress, describing the party as her “natural home”.
Iyabo made the confirmation on Saturday during an interview with Nigerian sports icon, Segun Odegbami, on 103.7FM Eagle7 Sports, which was monitored in Abeokuta.
The former senator returned to active politics after about 15 years, joining the APC ahead of the 2027 general elections in Ogun State.
Speaking in the interview, Iyabo said her decision to re-enter politics followed sustained pressure from supporters who had been mobilising independently on her behalf.
“Like I told you, a group of people who I did not bring together, I did not form them into a group, have been working, I think, for two years now.
“And then they started talking to me about a year ago, saying, ‘Look, we think you are the best candidate. We want you back,’” she said.
Iyabo, a former Ogun State Commissioner for Health, recalled that she lost her re-election bid in 2011 to Senator Gbenga Obadara of the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).
Following the defeat, she relocated to the United States, where she focused on her academic career and rose to the rank of professor.
She explained that a return to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), under which she last contested an election, was not an option due to what she described as “all kinds of turmoil” within the party.
The former lawmaker also revealed that she considered the African Democratic Congress (ADC) but noted that the coalition party was yet to fully organise itself, saying it did not have its “ducks in a row yet; they’re still working on it.”
Iyabo said she carried out extensive consultations before settling for the APC, noting that those who reached out to her and supported her return to politics are members of the ruling party.
“So, I think APC is my natural home. I don’t have any animosity towards any individual or any group within the APC. I feel comfortable with all the actors I know within the APC.
“I feel more comfortable, actually, than with some of the actors I know in the PDP, and some of them are now in the ADC. So I think it’s my natural home. I feel quite confident and happy to have made that decision.
“I have an absolute 100% feeling it’s my natural home,” she said.
Iyabo, who represented Ogun Central Senatorial District from 2007 to 2011, recently took part in the ongoing APC e-registration exercise at Ibogun, Ward 11, in Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State, formally sealing her membership of the party.
