By Adesina Wahab
Senator Iyabo Obasanjo, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senatorial candidate for Ogun Central, has urged voters to assess political candidates based on their records, commitment to public service and ability to improve people’s lives rather than party affiliation alone.
Obasanjo made the call during a television interview with TVC, where she discussed her return to active politics after a 14-to-15-year break during which she pursued an academic career.
The former senator also spoke about her political journey, her return to the PDP and her ambition to represent Ogun Central in the Senate in the 2027 general elections.
Asked about her party’s preferred presidential candidate for the 2027 election, Obasanjo declined to make an explicit endorsement, explaining that doing so could confuse voters assessing her own senatorial candidacy.
Her response highlighted the distinction between the presidential and senatorial contests, with Obasanjo urging voters to consider candidates on their individual merits.
Explaining her decision to return to politics after more than a decade away from elective office, the professor of epidemiology recalled a meeting with about 30 community members who urged her to resume public service.
She said the group members were not relatives but individuals who had independently decided to appeal for her return.
According to her, their sincerity and accounts of how her previous interventions had improved their lives made a strong impression on her and prompted her to reconsider her decision to remain outside elective politics.
Obasanjo said the encounter reinforced her belief that her previous work in public office had made a lasting impact on some constituents who believed she could still contribute to their welfare.
On what she intended to do differently if elected again, she said her approach to public service remained guided by the same values that informed her previous political engagements and academic career.
She explained that her focus had consistently been on helping people improve their circumstances and contributing to the development of society.
The former senator cited her previous interventions in the health sector, including grant management and hospital renovation projects, as examples of her efforts to deliver practical benefits to communities.
Obasanjo also explained the political developments that preceded her return to the PDP.
She recalled that she joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) when she sought the party’s governorship ticket in Ogun State, despite having previously served as a senator on the PDP platform.
She said she congratulated the winner of the APC’s consensus process, after which she returned to the PDP to pursue her former senatorial seat in Ogun Central.
Obasanjo maintained that her political choices had not altered her underlying commitment to public service, arguing that improving people’s lives remained her central motivation regardless of the party platform through which she pursued that goal.
The 2027 elections will provide voters in Ogun Central an opportunity to assess Obasanjo and other candidates based on their records, policy positions and plans for the constituency, alongside their party affiliations.
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