The Yoruba Ronu Leadership Forum has publicly accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo of covertly working to secure President Bola Tinubu's re-election in the 2027 general elections. In a statement released on Sunday, July 26, the Lagos-based group alleged that Obasanjo's recent attacks on opposition figures were part of a calculated strategy to weaken Nigeria's opposition parties and clear a path for Tinubu's second term.
Obasanjo's Letter and Its Hidden Motive
The controversy began when Obasanjo wrote a letter to former Ogun State Governor Chief Segun Osoba, in which he accused former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of mobilizing the late former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Umar Na'Abba, to impeach him during his presidency. Atiku quickly fired back, accusing Obasanjo of nursing old grievances related to the failed Third Term agenda. But the Yoruba Ronu Leadership Forum argued that Obasanjo's real target was not Atiku personally but the entire opposition landscape.
According to Chief Akin Malaolu, the group's president, Obasanjo deliberately named a deceased person—Na'Abba—to make the allegation impossible to refute. "To respond to Obasanjo, he has to be resurrected from the dead, which the former President knows is impossible," Malaolu said in the statement. The forum believes this was a calculated move to discredit Atiku without facing a direct rebuttal.
The Alleged Tinubu Connection
The Yoruba Ronu Leadership Forum went further, claiming that Obasanjo's public endorsements of Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso were mere smokescreens. Malaolu alleged that when stakeholders of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) approached Obasanjo for guidance during coalition talks, the former president pushed aggressively for Obi to be adopted as the ADC presidential candidate. The group claimed Obasanjo even threatened to withdraw his support publicly if Obi accepted the vice-presidential slot instead.
When that effort failed, the forum said Obasanjo orchestrated defections to the National Democratic Congress (NDC), using Kwankwaso to pull Obi away from the ADC. "Obasanjo is currently working with a member of President Tinubu's family to advance the 2027 agenda," Malaolu asserted, though no names were provided. The forum accused Obasanjo of retreating into his "tribal enclave" to support a "politically drowning Tinubu."
Opposition Prospects and Expert Views
In a separate development, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation Babachir Lawal offered a numerical assessment of the 2027 presidential race. According to Lawal, an Obi-Kwankwaso joint ticket would have close to a 70 percent chance of victory, while President Tinubu stands at 50 percent and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar at zero percent. This analysis suggests that opposition unity could significantly challenge the incumbent.
At the time of filing this report, Obasanjo had not issued a response to the Yoruba Ronu accusations. The forum's allegations add a new layer of intrigue to the already complex political maneuvering ahead of the 2027 elections, with Obasanjo's role as a kingmaker being heavily scrutinized.
