It’s a tale of old foes now friends at least momentarily as former Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and ex-presidential candidate, Peter Obi, posed for pictures all smiles while attending the International Leaders Forum (ILF) in Chicago on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention (DNC).
The DNC event in Illinois which is already under way started August 19 and will end on 22.
Osinbajo and Obi who squared up when the former was into his second term as veepee and the latter was the running mate to the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party or PDP, Atiku Abubakar, met and shared a moment to take pictures sandwiched by a lady and a gentleman.
In another picture, both were pictured seated and smiling in an office.
Both took part in the 2019 debates and went after each other in a number of policy areas with Osinbajo particularly coming out bruised after some glaring errors in his bid to make a case for the government he was part of to be voted back into power.
In one notable debate, a stuttering Osinbajo mixed up his tenses and was heard saying, “where, were, wear’ several times, earning him a new title of the same phrase, and was crafted into musical lyrics that dominated the social media for a long time.
Both however appeared to have moved on since that election in which Osinbajo was returned as veepee while Obi emerged as the Labour Party presidential candidate four years later.
Osinbajo failed to clinch the All Progressives Congress presidential ticket, which was won by current President, Bola Tinubu in 2023 leading to his victory at the polls.
The pair’s path has not crossed until the latest meeting in Illinois.
Speaking at the event however, Obi said he was invited “along with two other eminent Nigerians, and about two hundred other distinguished political leaders from over 91 countries, including former Heads of Governments”.
“We were invited to participate in the 2024 International Leaders Forum (ILF) on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, holding on 19-22 August 2024,” Obi wrote on X.
He added, “I am honoured and grateful to Senator Thomas Daschle and the Board of NDI for the gracious invitation.”
Obi said the ILF offered leaders from Africa’s evolving democracies the opportunity to share their experiences and learn from others.
He said, “Over the years, NDI has identified and invited key senior politicians and policymakers from around the world to observe an important and rich facet of the United States of America’s democratic process.
“The ILF gathering serves as an opportunity for such leaders drawn from across diverse nationalities, ideologies and geographies to build relationships based on their commonality of shared experiences while identifying, peculiarities as well as common interests and addressing pressing challenges to democratic institutions, values and norms.
“As President Tamara Wittes stated ‘Democracy is about communities making collective decisions even when people may have real differences of view – and so healthy democracy relies on fostering open dialogue and trust. Without that trust, every political argument and every election becomes a zero-sum, existential battle’.
“This issue of trust and value was discussed during presentations and exchanges by participants including DNC Chair Jamie Harrison, former DNC Chair, and now Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Prime Minister of Kosovo, Former Prime Minister of Denmark, former NATO Secretary General, & others.
“The ILF offer those of us from Africa’s nascent and evolving democracies the opportunity to share our experiences and learn from others, various norms germane to building resilient democracies.
“I am elated to be part of this process of conversations on global democracy trends and look forward to what promises to be very fruitful deliberations and constructive engagement,” Obi wrote.
Osinbajo has not issued any comment regarding his attendance.