Obasanjo and daughter Iyabo trade jokes at Abeokuta AI forum
- Iyabo Obasanjo joked she did not know her father while greeting dignitaries at a symposium in Abeokuta.
- Obasanjo shot back that her remark was already an abuse of artificial intelligence, to loud applause.
- The event at his presidential library focused on using AI to solve grassroots problems.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and his daughter, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo, turned a policy symposium in Abeokuta into a moment of laughter on Friday, October 30, with a playful exchange in front of a full hall.
The event was the Ajibosin Platform, an annual symposium held at the main auditorium of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) as part of the Odun Omo Olowu festival. This year's theme was "Leveraging Artificial Intelligence to Solve Grassroots Problems and Accelerate National Development."
Iyabo, a former Ogun State commissioner for health and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for Ogun Central in the 2027 senatorial election, was one of the panellists. When the moderator, Prof. Yemi Oke, gave her the floor, she greeted dignitaries in the room, including the Olowu of Owu Kingdom, Oba Saka Matemilola, and her father, who is the Balogun of Owu.
She ended the greetings by acknowledging the former president, "who I don't know." The hall burst into laughter.
Obasanjo's reply
Obasanjo later took the microphone and admitted he knew little about artificial intelligence. He warned that anything outside a person's control can be used against them.
Then he turned to his daughter. "And you can see it (abuse) has already started," he said. "Iyabo doesn't know her father. That's abuse of AI already." The audience laughed again.
The former president also spoke about the economy, criticising what he called the blind adoption of economic advice from young, foreign-trained experts. He noted that some of his children, including Iyabo, studied at top universities abroad, but asked how she could tell him how to run his home.
The exchange drew attention partly because father and daughter look so alike, which made the joke land harder with the crowd.
The two have had a public falling out in the past, after Iyabo wrote a critical letter to her father. In a recent television interview, she dismissed talk of a rift, describing their bond as closer to friendship. She said she turns 60 next year and her father turns 90.
Iyabo returned to active politics in Ogun State early this year after about 15 years away. She represented Ogun Central in the Senate from 2011 to 2017. She joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) and declared her intention to run for the governorship seat, but lost the party's ticket to Senator Solomon Adeola. She rejoined the PDP in May and in June received the party's ticket for Ogun Central ahead of the 2027 general election.
What happens next
Iyabo's candidacy means Ogun Central voters will see more of her on the campaign trail ahead of 2027. The symposium itself was a reminder that AI is now part of national conversation, from governance to grassroots problem-solving.
