Obasanjo Fires Back at Segun Osoba in Fiery Letter, Denying 2003 AD Betrayal and Dropping Bombshell on Atiku’s Impeachment Plot

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has fired a stinging broadside at former Ogun State Governor, Chief Olusegun Osoba, firmly denying long-held allegations that he manipulated and deceived South-West political leaders during the build-up to the 2003 general elections.

The public clash follows a published article by Chief Osoba titled “How Obasanjo Deceived Us in 2003”, in which the elder statesman accused Obasanjo of using a false peace pact to blindside six Alliance for Democracy (AD) governors, ultimately clearing the path for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to sweep the South-West ballot.

Unimpressed by the narrative, Obasanjo fired back in a lengthy, point-by-point letter titled “Reply to Your Inaccurate Posture: ‘How Obasanjo Deceived Us in 2003′”. The former president rejected the label of a deceiver, taking personal offense to the claim and insisting that his entire political career has been guided by transparency and national interest.

Addressing the historical back-and-forth, Obasanjo argued that Osoba’s account was far-fetched and riddled with major omissions. He revealed that many high-level political negotiations following his release from prison were conducted directly with top Afenifere elders—such as the late Chief Abraham Adesanya and Chief Bola Ige—well above the heads of the then-governors.

“I take strong and serious objection to your calling me a deceiver because I deceived nobody,” Obasanjo declared in his letter. “I always presented my case and all issues as I had them and as I understood them, no matter whose ox was gored. There were issues you did not know or understand because they were handled by your elders in the Alliance for Democracy and Afenifere. Bringing PDP and AD together for a sort of national government after 1999 was not done out of weakness; rather, it was out of strength and for the unity and progress of the country.”

Reopening old political wounds, the former president also dropped a major revelation concerning his turbulent first term in office. He alleged that the intense impeachment attempt mounted against him by the National Assembly in 2002 was quietly orchestrated by his own Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, who was allegedly courting political support from South-West governors to launch an early presidential ambition.

Defending the outcome of the 2003 governorship polls—which saw five AD governors lose their re-election seats—Obasanjo insisted that the electoral shift was driven by grassroots political realities and poor local campaign strategies rather than any presidency-sponsored conspiracy.

Concluding his letter on a conciliatory note, Obasanjo urged Osoba to embrace humility and dialogue. He acknowledged Osoba’s past role as Ogun State governor in facilitating the land allocation for the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) in Abeokuta, noting that political rivalry should never destroy long-standing personal relationships.