Obasanjo to Osoba: You lost in 2003 genuinely… I wasn’t part of your arrangement with Atiku
Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has publicly refuted claims made by former Ogun State Governor Olusegun Osoba regarding the 2003 general elections. Obasanjo denied deceiving AD governors and Afenifere leaders, stating that political arrangements were handled by the party's elders.
Why it matters
This exchange highlights historical political tensions and the complexities of power dynamics in Nigerian electoral history.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has dismissed a recent claim by Olusegun Osoba, former governor of Ogun, accusing him of deceiving leaders of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) ahead of the 2003 general election.
Osoba had alleged that Obasanjo deceived AD governors and Afenifere leaders during political negotiations preceding the 2003 elections.
In a letter issued in Abeokuta, Ogun state capital, on Thursday, titled “Reply to Your Inaccurate Posture: How Obasanjo Deceived Us in 2003, Obasanjo said Osoba got many things wrong in his article published in The Legal Observer on July 20, 2026.
“Your presentation in your write-up was far-fetched, to put it mildly,” Obasanjo wrote.
“But before I go further, I take strong and serious objection to your calling me a deceit because I deceived nobody.
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