Just In: Osinbajo Storms Abeokuta, Meets Obasanjo Amidst 2023 Speculations

Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, Monday met with former President, Olusegun Obasanjo at his his residence, in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital.

Osinbajo is in the Ogun state capital for a high-level dialogue organised by the Coalition for Dialogue on Africa (CoDA).

The dialogue tagged, ‘West Africa: Rising To The Challenge Of Consolidating Democratic Governance’, is to hold at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta on Monday and Tuesday.

Osinbajo, who was escorted by the Ogun state governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, landed at exactly 10:24am within the premises of the OOPL.

They however proceeded to the venue of the dialogue after the Vice President was received by the former president at a close door meeting.

There have been speculations that Vice President Osinbajo would seek the ticket of the All Progressives Congress to contest the 2023 presidential election.

Although he has not personally declared his intention, his loyalists, led by his political adviser, Babafemi Ojudu, have been touring the country, selling his candidature.

It is unclear if Osinbajo would during this meeting notify Mr Obasanjo of his intention to seek the nation’s topmost position. But a number of other presidential hopefuls have visited the former president in the past months.

After falling out with the Peoples Democratic Party in 2013, Mr Obasanjo abandoned partisan politics but supported Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress during the 2015 presidential election. Buhari won that election.

He has since lost confidence in the APC and Buhari but it remains unclear who the former president will back for the 2023 presidential poll.

One of those seeking the presidential ticket of the PDP is Obasanjo’s former deputy, Atiku Abubakar, who after many years of being estranged, made up with his former boss in the run-up to the 2019 presidential election.

He was candidate of the PDP in that election but lost to Buhari of the APC.