Iyabo Obasanjo, daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, has said she believes the All Progressives Congress (APC) can produce Nigeria’s first elected female governor as she declared her intention to contest the Ogun State governorship election.
Speaking on Monday at the APC National Secretariat in Abuja, Obasanjo said Nigeria has not produced an elected female governor and expressed confidence that her party could change that.
“The APC’s push on that bill gives me the confidence that the APC is the party that will produce the first female governor in Nigeria that is elected in office. I am confident that if there was ever a time for a woman to emerge, this is the time,” she said.
She confirmed that she has registered as a card-carrying member of the APC and is seeking the party’s nomination for the Ogun governorship ticket.
“As you must have read in the news, I have joined APC. As a card-carrying member, I have also put myself in the ring to be nominated by the party as the governorship candidate for APC in Ogun State,” she said.
Obasanjo said her return to politics followed requests from supporters in Ogun State.
She added that many of her former supporters had joined the APC.
On zoning the governorship to Ogun West, she said each zone deserves representation but questioned whether past approaches had worked.
“If everything we have done in the past has not worked, why do we think it will be different now? I think I have the capacity as a sitting governor to help Yewa and the West to get the first governor in Ogun State,” she said.
Responding to questions about her father’s involvement, she said the decision was hers.
“He is not part of my coming here today; it is my personal decision. He is just another citizen who will vote for me. He has not presented me any platform. Like I said, I made an informed decision to choose APC,” she said.
Iyabo Obasanjo represented Ogun Central in the Senate from 2007 to 2011 and previously served as commissioner for health in Ogun State.
She said she would focus on education, science, technology, ICT, agriculture and manufacturing if elected.
