| Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello | |
|---|---|
| Ogun Central Senator | |
| In office May 2007 – May 2011 |
|
| Preceded by | Ibikunle Amosun |
| Succeeded by | Olugbenga Onaolapo Obadara |
| Constituency | Ogun Central |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 27, 1967 |
| Political party | People's Democratic Party (PDP) |
| Residence | Abeokuta |
| Profession | Veterinarian, Epidemiologist |
Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello (born April 27, 1967) was elected as a Nigerian Senator representing Ogun Central Senatorial District of Ogun State in April 2007.[1] She ran for reelection April 2011 on the PDP platform, but was defeated by Olugbenga Onaolapo Obadara of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), who gained 102,389 votes to Obasanjo Bello's 56,312.[2] Obasanjo-Bello is the daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Oluremi Obasanjo.[3]
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Obasanjo-Bello attended Corona School in Victoria Island, Lagos, Capital School in Kaduna, and Queen's College in Lagos. She obtained a degree in veterinary medicine from the University of Ibadan in Ibadan in 1988, a masters' degree in epidemiology from University of California, Davis in Davis, California, United States, in 1990, and a PhD in the same subject from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, in 1994.[4]
Before her senatorial election, Obasanjo-Bello was Ogun State Commissioner for Health.[1]
Prior to the April 2007 general election, the government of Abia State indicted numerous current and former public officials, including Obasanjo-Bello, on corruption and other charges; in December 2007 a Federal High Court in Umuahia nullified the indictments on the grounds they were not filed in accordance with Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution.[5][6]
Obasanjo-Bello was elected to the Senate on April 28, 2007 on a People's Democratic Party (PDP) platform; her Action Congress (AC) opponent Remilekun Bakare challenged this outcome, but the Ogun State Election Petition Tribunal upheld her victory.[7]
She is the Chairman of the Senate's Health Committee, and a member of the Security & Intelligence, Land Transport, Science & Technology, Education, National Planning, and Inter-Parliamentary Committees.[1] She lost her seat during the National Assembly Elections on April 9, 2011.
In April 2008, Obasanjo-Bello came under investigation by Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) due to the investigations involving the Former Minister for Health and her minister for (state) Health, Prof. Adenike Grange, for embezzlement of public funds. The Ministry at the end of the financial year did not return all unspent funds to the government coffers. The amount was 300 million naira, which was allegedly distributed among the Minister, her minister of state and top civil servants on the Senate and House Health Committee she chairs. The Minister and her deputy were forced to resign after returning their share of the money; they were later arrested and posted bail. Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello refused to return her portion of this money, 10 million naira. She claimed that the nine members of her committee "lobbied" for funds from the ministry they oversaw. She maintained this money was spent on a conference on capacity building some members of the health committee attended in Ghana. She has so far refused to appear before the EFCC. Although summoned, along with the minister and other civil servants, she refused to appear in court. A week later a high drama ensued when officials of the EFCC tried to arrest her at her home in the Maitama district of Abuja city, after several simultaneous stake outs by law enforcement officials that had her jumping over her fence to evade arrest by Nigerian law enforcement officers.
In December 2007, Obasanjo-Bello came under investigation by Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) due to a dispute between her and Austrian firm M. Schneider GMBH and Co.[8] The corporation claims that Obasanjo-Bello used the alias "Damilola Akinlawon" to sign a contract regarding the financing of a company; this newly-formed company was used to bid on ₦3.5 billion worth of energy-related contracts offered by her father's government.[9][10] (Akinlawon is Oluremi Obasanjo's maiden name).[3]
Obasanjo-Bello described the allegation as "blackmail", and said she was being targeted because she was the daughter of the former President.[11]
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