Obasanjo Fires Back at Osoba, Defends 2003 Election Victory

• Obasanjo insists AD governors suffered genuine electoral defeat in 2003.

• Says alliance with opposition was driven by national unity, not political weakness.

• Rejects allegations of deception, recounts behind-the-scenes negotiations before the poll.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has strongly defended his conduct ahead of the 2003 general elections, dismissing allegations by former Ogun State Governor, Chief Olusegun Osoba, that he deceived leaders of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in the build-up to the polls.

Obasanjo, in a detailed letter dated July 23, 2026, said the accusations were false and maintained that the opposition governors’ defeat at the polls reflected the political realities of the time rather than any betrayal on his part.

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The letter, titled “Reply to Your Inaccurate Posture: ‘How Obasanjo Deceived Us in 2003′”, was written in response to an article reportedly authored by Osoba and published in The Legal Observer on July 20, in which the former governor accused Obasanjo of misleading Yoruba leaders and the six AD governors before the 2003 elections.

Rejecting the allegation, Obasanjo said he had always been forthright in his political dealings.

“I deceived nobody. I always presented my case and all issues as I understood them, no matter whose ox was gored,” the former president stated.

He argued that the AD governors misunderstood the political negotiations that took place before the election and insisted that their losses were largely deserved.

“Your loss or defeat in 2003 was genuine in all six states except the one where the figures were successfully and murderously changed, as Chief Tinubu, the Head of Service in Lagos State then, accurately reported to me. I took it as God’s allowance,” Obasanjo said.

The former president also criticised Osoba’s campaign, claiming the former governor failed to engage voters effectively before the election.

“From information that reached me from the political field, you barely campaigned, and at the tail end of the campaign, you went on TV to apologise to the people for your arrogance and informed them that the starch in your agbada caused your arrogant appearance,” he wrote.

According to Obasanjo, the Peoples Democratic Party mounted an aggressive and successful campaign across the South-West in the days leading to the election.

“The brisk movement through South West by PDP on Thursday before the Saturday election in 2003 was incomparable and successful,” he added.

The former president further argued that Osoba and the AD governors were not privy to several high-level political engagements handled by senior Afenifere leaders.

“There were issues you did not know or understand because, as you pointed out, they were above your head,” he stated.

Reflecting on his return to politics after his release from prison, Obasanjo disclosed that separate delegations from the South-West and the North visited him at his Ota residence to persuade him to contest for the presidency.

He said he subsequently consulted prominent political figures, including Chief Richard Akinjide, Chief Meredith Adisa Akinloye, the late Chief Bola Ige, Prof. Oyeleye Oyediran, Sunday Awoniyi, Adamu Ciroma, Prof. Anezi Okoro and Arthur Mbanefo, before deciding to join the Peoples Democratic Party.

Obasanjo also revealed that the late Afenifere leader, Chief Abraham Adesanya, had urged him to abandon the PDP and join the Alliance for Democracy, but he rejected the proposal.

“He asked me to join AD, and I told him that AD, as essentially a tribal party, was in a cul-de-sac,” he wrote.

Despite their political differences, Obasanjo said he maintained a cordial relationship with Adesanya throughout the period.

The former president dismissed suggestions that his outreach to opposition politicians after assuming office in 1999 was driven by political insecurity, insisting that his actions were intended to foster national cohesion.

“Bringing PDP and AD to join me for a sort of national government was not out of weakness; rather, it was out of strength and the unity and progress of the country,” he said.

He added that after the 1999 elections, he appointed several defeated PDP governorship candidates from the South-West into federal positions and deliberately maintained communication with opposition-controlled states.

“I believe that in politics, as in life, you must never stop communicating and widening your circle of friends,” Obasanjo stated.