H.E. Olusegun Obasanjo served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Yar’Adua Foundation from its inception in 1998 to 2022. His last act as Chairman was hosting the 20th anniversary of the Commissioning of the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre.

Shehu Yar’Adua was a friend, colleague and Chief of Staff to President Obasanjo during his Federal Military regime from 1976 – 1979. In 1995, President Obasanjo and the late Yar’Adua were convicted with a phantom coup plot and sentenced to life in prison. He was released in 1998 upon the death of the military ruler and later granted a full state pardon.
President Obasanjo was elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1999 and re-elected in 2003. He is Founder of Bells University of Technology, Ota and the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Ogun State.