₦airaland Forum

Ogun 2027: Adebutu’s INEC Battle Deepens As ‘rejection’ Report Emerges Without Formal Ruling

  • Questions mount over PDP membership register as INEC keeps public waiting for detailed decision



Fresh controversy has erupted over the 2027 Ogun State governorship election following reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has rejected the petition of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Hon. Ladi Adebutu, seeking restoration of his name to the commission’s list of candidates.

However, while several media organisations reported on Thursday that INEC had rejected Adebutu’s petition, the commission had, as of the time of filing this report, not publicly released a detailed formal statement explaining the legal and factual basis for the decision.

That distinction has become central to the developing controversy.

Reports attributed to an unnamed INEC source said the commission considered 69 petitions arising from the omission of candidates from its final governorship and State House of Assembly lists, with about 36 reportedly succeeding.

The same reports said Adebutu’s request did not succeed, while former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Pantami, and Kano governorship candidate Abdulsalam Gwarzo were reportedly cleared, subject to the outcome of pending court cases.

INEC was also reported to be awaiting final figures from its legal department before issuing a formal statement on the outcome of the petitions.

This means that, at present, the public has a reported outcome but not yet the commission’s detailed public reasoning for Adebutu’s case.

Adebutu’s exclusion from the October 10 final list followed INEC’s earlier explanation that some political parties had failed to comply with the membership-register provisions of the Electoral Act 2026.

INEC specifically relied on Section 77(5)–(7) of the Electoral Act and the Supreme Court’s September 24, 2026 judgment in INEC v. Zenith Labour Party, which upheld the constitutional validity of the relevant provisions and INEC’s timetable for submission of party membership registers.

The commission said political parties were required to submit their membership registers between April 21 and May 10, 2026.

But the application of that position to Adebutu has generated substantial controversy.

The issue is not merely whether Adebutu’s name appeared on a particular copy of the register.

The bigger question is what happened to the register, what documents were submitted by the PDP, what explanation was supplied for any omission, and whether INEC has properly considered the evidence presented by the candidate and his party.

The controversy gained another dimension on Thursday after the National Vice Chairman of the Labour Party in the South-West, Dr Arabambi Abayomi, and Action Alliance governorship candidate Prof. Awofala Awolola announced plans to challenge any alleged alteration of the PDP membership register submitted to INEC.

The two politicians said they had petitioned INEC to preserve the original register and investigate allegations concerning an affidavit purportedly explaining the omission of Adebutu’s name.

Significantly, the petitioners themselves acknowledged that they were not in possession of the alleged affidavit and had not independently verified its existence or contents.

They nevertheless asked INEC to establish whether the document exists, when it was submitted, who received it and what purpose it was intended to serve.

That development raises a critical question for the Adebutu case:

What precisely is contained in the official record before INEC, and did the commission consider all relevant documents before arriving at its reported decision?

The Ogun PDP has previously maintained that Adebutu complied with the requirements for his nomination.

The party had challenged his omission and argued that the candidate remained a legitimate PDP member who satisfied the party's nomination requirements.

The controversy therefore goes beyond a simple administrative omission. It has become a dispute over the interpretation and application of the statutory membership-register requirements to a particular candidate.

INEC itself had announced that candidates and political parties whose names were wrongly omitted from the final list had a statutory window within which to complain.

Following publication of the final governorship list, affected parties were given 14 days to notify the commission of alleged wrongful omissions.

INEC subsequently scheduled October 29 for consideration of the petitions.

The PUNCH had reported ahead of Thursday's meeting that INEC would determine the fate of Adebutu, Pantami and other affected candidates at the meeting.

The reported outcome therefore represents the culmination of that review process but the public is still waiting for the commission's detailed explanation.

The treatment of Adebutu alongside Pantami has also raised questions about the application of the same statutory framework.

Both candidates were initially omitted from INEC's final governorship list.

Yet Thursday's reports indicate that Pantami's case was reviewed differently and that he was cleared, although his candidacy remains subject to pending litigation.

Gwarzo was similarly reported to have been cleared subject to the outcome of litigation.

The issue for Adebutu's supporters is therefore not simply why his name was omitted initially.

It is, What specific factual or legal circumstance makes Adebutu's case different, and what evidence did INEC rely upon in reaching that conclusion?

Until those questions are answered formally, the debate is unlikely to end with Thursday's reported decision.

Another important distinction must be made.

A reported INEC rejection does not, by itself, settle every possible legal question surrounding Adebutu's participation in the 2027 election.

The electoral process operates within a legal framework, and disputes over candidate qualification, nomination, party compliance and INEC decisions may ultimately become matters for judicial determination.

Consequently, headlines suggesting that Adebutu's political ambition has been finally and irreversibly terminated would go beyond what has presently been established.

What has been reported is that INEC rejected his petition.

What remains necessary is the formal decision, the reasons for that decision, the documentary basis upon which it was reached and any subsequent legal action by Adebutu or the PDP.

For Adebutu and the PDP, the immediate priority should therefore be transparency.

The commission should make public, within the limits of the law:

The specific grounds upon which Adebutu's petition was rejected.

The relevant PDP membership register relied upon by INEC.

The documents submitted by the PDP in support of Adebutu's candidacy.

Any affidavit or explanatory document relied upon in determining the matter.

The legal advice or statutory provision forming the basis of the decision.

Why Adebutu's case was treated differently from other candidates whose petitions were reportedly successful.

Whether the decision is subject to further administrative review or judicial challenge.

These are legitimate questions in a democratic electoral process.

The emerging narrative should therefore be treated with caution.

Adebutu's name was omitted from the final list.

INEC subsequently received his petition.

Reports now say the petition was rejected but the detailed formal reasons for that rejection remain crucial.

Indeed, the latest reports themselves acknowledge that INEC was awaiting its legal department's final figures and preparing a formal statement.

Until that statement is published, declaring that every legal avenue has been exhausted would be premature.

For Adebutu's supporters, the immediate issue is therefore not political rhetoric but documentation, due process and the precise interpretation of the Electoral Act 2026.

The controversy surrounding Ladi Adebutu deserves more than a headline announcing that INEC has “rejected” him.

It deserves answers.

If INEC has rejected the PDP candidate, Nigerians deserve to know why.

If the decision is based on a membership register, Nigerians deserve to know which register.

If an omission in that register is the basis of the decision, the parties involved deserve clarity on how that omission occurred and what evidence was presented to explain it.

And if the matter eventually proceeds to court, the courts will have the opportunity to determine whether the commission's interpretation and application of the law withstand judicial scrutiny.

For now, the Adebutu matter remains an unfolding electoral and legal dispute not a story that should be reduced to a one-line political victory or defeat.

We will continue to monitor the official INEC position and any legal response from Adebutu and the Ogun PDP.

Ayo Mojoyin

WHO IS PLAYING DANGEROUS POLITICS WITH OGUN’S PALACES? ESELU SAGA RAISES QUESTIONS FOR ALAKE AND AKARIGBO

By Remi Adeolu

Something deeply troubling is unfolding in Ogun State, and every traditional ruler, every civic-minded person, and every Yoruba son and daughter from Ogun should be paying close attention.

The suspension of Oba Akintunde Akinyemi, the Eselu of Iselu Kingdom, is not ordinary. The government says it is about “partisan political activities.” That explanation is thin. What many are seeing is a calculated move driven by political desperation as the 2027 governorship race heats up. It is widely alleged that Senator Solomon Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, is the brain behind this action. Sources close to the matter claim he was directly involved in pushing for the suspension because Kabiyesi Eselu had shown reservations about his emergence as the APC governorship candidate. Yayi is fighting hard to become the next governor, and this move looks like an attempt to silence any traditional voice that does not fully fall in line.

Governor Dapo Abiodun appears to have allowed his administration to be drawn into a fight that risks damaging the dignity of the traditional institution itself. Whether he acted on his own or was influenced, the result is the same: a traditional ruler has been ordered to leave his palace, stop wearing his crown, and stop presenting himself as the Eselu of Iselu. This is no small matter. Traditional stools are not political appointments that can be handed out or withdrawn whenever it is convenient. Once this door is opened, no Oba will be left, not even Alake or Akarigbo will be spared.

What makes the action even more alarming is the selective nature of it. Other traditional rulers in Yewaland and across Ogun have openly shown political preferences without facing the same treatment. When rules are applied only to some people and ignored for others, trust collapses. People begin to ask hard questions. Who is really calling the shots? Whose political future is being protected at the expense of our cultural heritage?

This is the moment civic groups, community organisations, and pan-Yoruba bodies must rise. Silence now will be interpreted as acceptance. Groups that have always spoken for justice and the protection of Yoruba institutions cannot look away. Injustice to one traditional ruler is injustice to all. That principle must not be abandoned simply because some Yewa rulers may currently support the suspension. Those who remain quiet today may find themselves in the same position tomorrow.

Yewa traditional rulers in particular have a responsibility to speak. The stool of Iselu is part of the same cultural family. Allowing one of their own to be treated this way without a clear, united voice weakens the entire traditional structure in the area. History has shown that when traditional institutions are weakened for short-term political gain, the damage lasts far longer than any election cycle.

Dapo Abiodun allowing his government to be used in what is alleged to be Yayi’s political score-settling is a serious misstep. It risks doing more damages to his already tainted administration and sending a dangerous signal that traditional rulers can be disciplined based on who they appear to favour or oppose.

The people of Ogun must not treat this as a local quarrel confined to Iselu. If a traditional ruler can be suspended so swiftly over alleged political activity while others face no consequence, the precedent is set. Tomorrow it could be another stool. The day after, another.

This is the time for clear voices. Civic organisations should demand transparency and equal application of the law. Pan-Yoruba bodies should issue firm statements defending the integrity of traditional institutions. Yewa rulers who understand that their own authority is tied to the respect given to every stool should speak without fear.

What is happening in Iselu is larger than one monarch. It is a test of whether Ogun still respects the traditional institution or whether politics has been allowed to swallow everything. The answer to that question will be decided by how loudly people speak now.

ODUNARO’S ZERO VOTE DRAMA: POLITICAL PRESSURE OR A PARALLEL COURTROOM IN YAYI’S CAMP?

Kayode Odunaro, media adviser to Senator Solomon Adeola (Yayi), has once again opened his mouth and poured out pure political hallucination. On radio, he boldly claimed that after “the court verdict,” Abayomi Hunye scored zero votes across all 236 wards of Ogun State.

Zero. Across every single ward. A man who actually participated in the primary.

That is not politics. That is mathematical nonsense. It is an insult to every APC member who stood in the sun and voted. You cannot score zero in a contest you took part in unless the result was cooked in a secret room and rubber-stamped by people who already decided the outcome. And if Hunye truly had zero support, why is Yayi’s camp spending fortune hopping from one radio station to another trying to bury a man they claim nobody voted for? Panic does not dress itself in confidence.

But the real scandal is not even the zero-vote fiction. It is the court claim.

There is no court verdict. None. The suit – Abayomi Semako Hunye v. APC & 2 Ors – is still pending. Senior Advocates appeared. No judgment was delivered. The matter was simply adjourned to 18 November 2026. So what “court verdict” is Odunaro waving around like a trophy?

Is he ignorant of how the Nigerian legal system works? Or are Odunaro and his principal running a parallel court system of their own? Or, because they sit close to power, do they believe they can blackmail the judiciary, poison the mind of the judge, and manufacture a verdict in the court of public opinion before the real court even sits again?

This is dangerous. This is reckless. This is the behaviour of people who treat the rule of law as optional when it does not favour them.

Ogun people must watch this carefully. The desperation on display today is a trailer of how Yayi’s camp will treat the people of this state if they ever get the chance. No regard for process. No respect for institutions. Just raw power and propaganda. The nonchalant attitude to the rule of law that begins with Yayi must end with Yayi. For how long will this nonsense continue to be rubbed in the faces of the good people of Ogun?

We have enjoyed relative peace and democratic order in this state since 1999. We will not sit quietly while anyone, especially a foreigner loaded with political garbage, tries to unsettle that peace and turn our politics into a theatre of lies and intimidation.

The courtroom, not radio studios, will decide this matter. Sub-judice rules exist for a reason. Attempting to invent judicial pronouncements before the judge has spoken is an attack on the very foundation of our democracy.

It is high time the good people of Ogun State rise and say enough is enough. The rule of law must prevail. No amount of media trials, fabricated zeros, or parallel-court fantasies will change that.

Akeem Adebesin is a political commentator from Onikolobo Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Daniel Honoured with Special Recognition Award at 2026 CILT National Conference in Abuja

His Excellency, Senator Otunba Engr. Gbenga Daniel (OGD), today attended the 2026 National Conference and Annual General Meeting of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) in Abuja.

He was received by the CILT National President, Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi, former Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), and Prof. Kayode Oyesiku, Chairman of the Conference Planning Committee, alongside other dignitaries.

At the event, Senator Daniel received a Special Recognition Award in recognition of his contributions. He also delivered a goodwill message, adding his voice to discussions at the gathering of professionals in logistics and transport.

The event further highlighted Senator Daniel's engagement with professional institutions and stakeholders in Nigeria's logistics and transport sector.

OGUN’S ROYAL CRISIS: WHO PUSHED DAPO TO SUSPEND ESELU? YAYI’S SUSPECTED ROLE RAISES QUESTIONS

By A.R. Olanrewaju

The people of Ogun State are seething with righteous anger. The sudden suspension of Oba Akintunde Akinyemi, the Eselu of Iselu Kingdom in Yewa North, has laid bare a dangerous assault on our sacred traditional institutions. The state government claims it acted over “alleged partisan political activities.” That excuse rings hollow. What we are seeing looks like pure power play and selective justice, and many are pointing fingers at the forces around Senator Solomon Adeola, popularly known as Yayi.

On 20 October 2026, a letter signed by the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs ordered Kabiyesi to vacate his palace immediately, stop wearing his crown, beads, staff or any regalia of office, and stop presenting himself as Eselu. The State Executive Council invoked Section 52(1) of the Ogun State Obas and Chiefs Law, 2021, pending investigation. The official reason: complaints about overtly partisan conduct, some of it publicised by the monarch himself.

But let’s not pretend this is about neutrality. Kabiyesi Eselu has spoken his mind on the kind of leaders Ogun people should reject. Now he is punished for it. According to sources close to the ruling party, the message is clear: any traditional ruler who does not fall in line with certain ambitions risks the same fate. Dethronement or suspension becomes the tool.

Why only Eselu? That is the question burning across Egba, Remo, Yewa North and Ijebu. The Olu of Ilaro, the Oba of Imeko and several other monarchs have never hidden their political leanings or engagements for Yayi. Their activities are public knowledge and overtly. Yet the APC government looks the other way. Is the rule only for some traditional rulers while others, protected by status or connections, remain above it? If the concern is truly political neutrality, the same standard must apply to everyone. You cannot preach neutrality while practising selective justice.

This is an abomination. Our traditional rulers are not political appointees that any governor or aspirant can suspend or remove at will. They are the custodians of our culture, history and identity. Treating them like disposable political tools threatens the very foundation of the traditional institution in Ogun State. Only an outsider mentality, one that does not truly belong to the soul of Ogun, would contemplate this level of disrespect behind the scene.

If this continues unchecked, paramount rulers like the Alake of Egbaland and the Akarigbo of Remoland should not sleep easy. The pattern is already visible. Once the precedent is set with a smaller stool, the bigger ones become fair game whenever they refuse to rubber-stamp a political project. Inner sources within the APC government alleged that any traditional ruler who does not support their preferred candidate will be punished and, if necessary, dethroned. That is not governance. That is intimidation dressed up as law.

Those who orchestrated this suspension and those who sat in the room and endorsed it deserve rejection. Ogun people must cast them out. This level of inconsistency and selective judgment is difficult to comprehend and impossible to accept. Traditional institutions must remain above the fray of dirty politics. When politicians begin to weaponise chieftaincy laws against monarchs who dare to speak, the entire society loses.

Kabiyesi Eselu of Iselu is not the first and will not be the last if this madness is allowed to stand. Ogun people must rise and defend the integrity of their thrones. Anything less is surrender.

CHINESE INDUSTRIAL PARK ROW: IS ABIODUN’S LEE GROUP SHOW REWRITING DANIEL’S LEGACY?

By A.R. Olanrewaju

Governor Dapo Abiodun is set to break ground on 12 November 2026 for a 450-hectare industrial park for Lee Group at Makun, near the Sagamu Interchange. His team is calling it a brand-new investment and a major win for his government. That story collapses the moment you look at the facts.

Lee Group never just appeared in Ogun under Abiodun. The company was already running in Kano, with dozens of Chinese firms ready to join. Then the economy crashed. Between 2008 and 2009, Otunba Gbenga Daniel brought the group to Ogun State. Drive from Lagos toward the Sagamu Interchange and you still see the sign: “Chinese Industrial Park.” It has been there for years.

Sixteen years on, Lee Group’s chairman, Sheau Fung Lee, has complained openly about how slowly the project moved. The House of Assembly blocked the funds Daniel needed at the time. Now Abiodun’s people talk about a $50 million expansion for detergent and food plants and try to present the whole park as their idea. It is not. Daniel brought Lee Group here. Abiodun is only cutting the ribbon on someone else’s work.

This is not a one-off. The cargo airport tells the same story. Gbenga Daniel started it. He fought for the land, the environmental clearances, the designs and the licence. Abiodun finished the construction and now acts as if the Gateway International Airport was his brainchild from day one.

Then there is the Gateway Medical Centre. It stood almost 95 percent complete under Ibikunle Amosun. Abiodun left it hanging for seven long years. Only after that delay did he complete the last bits, hand it over to a private firm under concession, and start claiming the entire hospital as his own achievement.

Ogun people have seen this movie before. Old projects get a fresh coat of paint, a new ceremony and a new owner. Credit is rewritten in real time. The truth is simpler and harder to erase: Lee Group came under Daniel, the airport began under Daniel, and the medical centre was nearly finished under Amosun.

Dapo Abiodun should stop rewriting history and stick to the facts. The Lee Group presence in Ogun traces back to Gbenga Daniel’s initiative. Claiming otherwise is not leadership; it is revisionism.

OGUN 2027: THE HIGH COST OF A WRONG TURN — YAYI’S CONTROVERSIES AND THE STATE’S FUTURE

By A.R. Olanrewaju

The storm is no longer gathering over Ogun State’s All Progressives Congress; it has broken. The APC, a party that has caused millions of Nigerians pain and suffering, is now tearing itself apart from within, with open revolt, whispers of defections, and raw anger threatening to destroy the party before the 2027 elections. Is this good news for the masses? Your answer is as good as mine! At the center of this escalating chaos sits one name: Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly called Yayi. For many APC party faithful, elevating him to the governorship is not just a gamble, it is a catastrophic mistake the people of Ogun cannot afford.

It started with the tickets. Across the East, Central, and West, popular candidates were shoved aside while unpopular ones were forced down the throats of the grassroots. In Ogun East, serving Remo Federal Constituency lawmaker Elegbeji was denied a return ticket, So were several state House of Assembly members who had crossed over from the opposition, bringing energy and numbers with them. The message was clear: loyalty and performance mean nothing to the ruling party.

Then came the Senate. Current Ogun East Senator and former governor, Gbenga Daniel, popularly known as OGD has delivered above expectation and remains widely loved by the people. Yet the ticket was handed instead to outgoing underperforming Governor, Dapo Abiodun, a move critics brand as pure political overreach given the governor’s own widely criticized record. OGD has publicly stood firm for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election and branded vehicles for his campaign, but his silence on the state ticket speaks volumes. In politics, silence is rarely golden; at times it is often a warning.

The story repeats itself with brutal consistency. In Ogun Central, former Governor and senator, Ibikunle Amosun and his network were shut out of Senate, House of Representatives, and Assembly tickets. Rumors swirl that some of his loyalists have already drifted toward the PDP. The incumbent Central senator, Salisu, was imposed despite a performance many describe as below par, further alienating party leaders and members who felt their voices counted for nothing.

In the West the pattern is equally stark. Hardworking federal lawmakers such as Isiaq Abiodun Akinlade representing Ipokia/Yewa South, who was seeking a fifth term watched his return ticket vanish, other popular lawmakers who failed to secure the party’s ticket include, Tunji Akinosi of Ado-Odo/Ota and Femi Ogunbanwo of Ijebu Ode/Ijebu North East/Odogbolu. In their place came candidates widely seen as imposed by the governor and by Yayi himself. The result? Senior APC chieftains and their followers have openly vowed revenge at the polls. This is no longer internal disagreement. This is a party preparing to sabotage itself.

But the deepest wound is the governorship primary itself. The contest that produced Yayi left jaws on the floor. Rival Abayomi Hunye was recorded with zero votes, while Yayi swept nearly everything in a result so lopsided that political analysts called it bizarre. Hunye is already in court challenging the process. In Nigerian politics, a primary that looks fixed is not just a legal problem; it is electoral poison.

Layer onto this the fundamental question of belonging. Many within the party and across the state view Yayi as an outsider, someone with roots in Ekiti who built his political career representing Lagos. They would have preferred a true son of the soil such as Gboyega Nasir Isiaka, a man who has agitated for equity for the Yewa-Awori since 2011. Instead, the party finds itself defending a candidacy already entangled in court cases over perjury, indigene-ship claims, and the very primary that produced him. These legal battles are not abstract. They drain energy and sow doubt, at a time when the incumbent governor’s performance has already left many citizens disillusioned.

There is more. Whispers grow louder that Lagos-based politicians close to Yayi are circling, ready to seize key positions and influence if he wins. For a state jealous of its autonomy, the prospect of outsiders calling the shots in Abeokuta is toxic. In Ijebuland the anxiety takes an even more personal form: with the Awujale stool still vacant, some fear an outsider governor could influence the choice of a new traditional ruler in ways that undermine local roots and traditions.

Put all of this together and the picture is alarming. A party riddled with imposed candidates, a questionable primary, unresolved court cases, questions of true indigene-ship, and open threats of internal sabotage is not a vehicle for progress. It is a vehicle headed for a crash. Voting Yayi into the governorship would not merely reward this dysfunction, it would institutionalize it. Ogun cannot afford another cycle of division, underperformance, and external influence. The state has capable, rooted politicians who understand its people, its history, and its aspirations. They do not need an outsider to lead them.

Yayi’s path, leads back to Lagos or to the state some claim as his origin. Ogun will not tolerate what Ekiti would never accept in reverse. The people of this state know the difference between a genuine son of the soil and a political transplant. In 2027 they will have the chance to make that distinction count at the ballot box.

The mantra is Ogun for Ogun. Anything less is a costly mistake the state simply cannot survive.

INEC CRISIS EXPLODES! TINUBU WARNS POLITICAL ASSOCIATES: STOP USING MY NAME FOR SELFISH AMBITIONS!

…President reportedly expresses displeasure over political manoeuvring, warns against actions that could damage his administration’s image and democratic legacy

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has reportedly expressed strong displeasure over what sources within the Presidential Villa described as the desperation of some political associates to advance their ambitions, warning that such actions could damage the image and legacy of his administration.

According to THISDAY, sources familiar with developments in the Villa said the President was particularly concerned about attempts by some individuals to drag his name into controversies surrounding the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the 2027 elections.

The concerns reportedly followed the release of INEC’s final list of governorship candidates for Ogun State, which has triggered fresh political controversy.

Contrary to some interpretations of the development, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, whose name has been linked to a perjury case and other legal controversies, appears on INEC’s final list as the APC governorship candidate for Ogun State, with Kudirat Abiodun Balogun listed as his running mate.

Meanwhile, Ladi Adebutu of the PDP and his running mate, Yemi Sowunmi-Kolapo, are missing from the final Ogun governorship list. The published list contains 13 governorship candidates, with no PDP ticket included.

A senior APC source quoted in the report said the President was unhappy with attempts by political actors to associate him with actions capable of creating the impression that the electoral process had been predetermined or manipulated.

The source was quoted as saying:

“No one should continue to drop his name to advance their selfish ambitions.”

The source further claimed that Tinubu wants his administration to be remembered for its commitment to democratic institutions and credible elections.

According to the report, individuals close to the President had drawn his attention to what they considered an anomaly in the political developments surrounding INEC’s final list.

The concern was reportedly heightened by claims that some political actors had celebrated the anticipated removal of names from the list before the commission officially published it.

The unfolding situation in Ogun State has opened another major political front ahead of the 2027 governorship election.

INEC’s published list includes APC candidate Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, while the PDP ticket headed by Ladi Adebutu is absent.

However, the published document does not state the reason for Adebutu’s omission. The former PDP governorship candidate has questioned the development, while the Ogun PDP has disputed claims surrounding his eligibility and membership status.

Attention has consequently shifted to INEC, the PDP, Adebutu and the legal implications of the omission.

The Villa sources quoted by THISDAY suggested that the President was particularly concerned about political manoeuvring being attributed to him or used to create the impression that the electoral process was being controlled from the Presidency.

The reported warning comes at a sensitive time for the ruling APC, as internal political disagreements and preparations for the 2027 elections continue to generate intense political manoeuvring across several states.

For Ogun State, the immediate question is no longer whether Yayi’s name appears on the final list, it does but why Adebutu’s name is missing and whether the PDP candidate will challenge the development through the available legal channels.

With Tinubu’s reported warning against the use of his name in political manoeuvring, the controversy surrounding Ogun’s governorship list has taken on a new dimension. The political and legal battle over Ogun 2027 may have only just begun.

Yayi and the Nemesis of 2027 (1)

By Dr. Tade Akinmade

...How he short-changed others to overrun the system

As soon as Solomon Olamilekan Adeola was elected to the Senate in 2023, he began plotting to become Governor of Ogun State in subsequent elections. He identified all possible challengers, notably original indigenes from Ogun West and Ogun Central, especially those who were also elected to the National Assembly.

He identified the power of money to get him the ticket, and beyond amassing so much of it for himself, he made every effort to stop others from accessing it. He made sure that Gboyega Nasir Isiaka (GNI) of Imeko Afon/Yewa North Federal Constituency and Hon. Abiodun Akinlade (Yewa South/Ipokia Federal Constituency) did not get any good House of Reps Committees where they could positively impact their people. He also made sure the N1billion constituency project envelope granted by the presidency was poorly funded. The implication was that most of them could not deliver a strong performance to straddle the political space and then contest power with Yayi.

The worst hit was his Senate colleague, Salisu Shuaib Afolabi, representing the Ogun Central senatorial district. Salisu was the preferred candidate of Prince Dapo Abiodun, the Governor of Ogun State, followed closely by Gboyega Nasir Isiaka. He was singled out for elimination and rendered prostrate, as most projects that should have been captured under his envelope for Ogun Central were appropriated under Yayi's Ogun West project. For example, many of the projects that were captured in the Appropriation for several towns in Ogun Central were recorded as being in Ogun West. For instance, road projects in Agbeloba Oriyarin in Abeokuta, Mowe, Ewekoro, etc were marked as Ogun West projects. This accounted for why many people believed that Salisu had a lacklustre performance in his first term, and affected his public ratings.

Most lawmakers in Ogun East were also rendered prostrate and painted in a bad light with their people. Femi Ogunbanwo in Ijebu Central was consumed; Adegbesan is struggling for reelection, having earned the sobriquet of a non-performer; and Elegbeji suffered a similar fate, surrendered to Yayi's singular ambition.

The case of Tunji Akinosi in Ado-Odo/Ota Federal Constituency shows how a bubbling ambition was maliciously truncated midway in a vendetta-like vengeance for daring to challenge the mighty power of the rampaging Yayi from Lagos. For daring to support his kinswoman from Ota, the deputy governor of Ogun State, Engr. Noimot Salako -Oyedele in her legitimate aspiration to also contest for the governorship ticket. In Yayi's lexicon, aspiration is an aberration; no one dares breathe when the rampaging forces are breathing. Yayi had to bring up his House of Reps colleague, Olugbenle, to neutralise both Akinosi and Noimot.

One of the most cerebral politicians in Ogun West, a performer who has empowered many youth in his constituency, Hon. Abiodun Akinlade, could not survive the power of Yayi's ambition, as he retired so early in his political career. He could not get the governorship ticket; the Senate was taken over his head, and his future political ambitions were put in abeyance and truncated mid-res. GNI only managed to survive by the whiskers because the noise was too deafening, but he is surely on the final lap of his political career. He can never be a senator if Yayi truly gets the governorship; a ministerial appointment is his closest enemy because of the Ogun State configurations in Yewa, Ijebus, and Egbas. He also has to contest any major federal appointments with his Imeko kinsman, Kayode Oladele, who has become Yayi's man-friday—the same fate which runs with Abiodun Akinlade.

Ogun Group Accuses Senator Yayi of N1.27bn ‘Fake’ Hospital Projects, Issues 7-Day Ultimatum

The Ogun Good Governance Forum (OGGF) has alleged that Senator Solomon Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, facilitated the inclusion of non-existent hospital projects worth N1.27 billion in the 2026 Appropriation Act in the name of Ogun West constituents.

In a statement, the group claimed that funds for the projects have already been released by the Federal Government, with each listed as “ongoing,” yet no corresponding facilities or equipment exist on the ground.

“The simple question is: WHERE ARE THE PROJECTS?” the forum asked. It stated there is no new Primary Healthcare Centre in Itori, no diagnostic instruments at Ayetoro General Hospital, and no medical equipment supplied to communities in Itele, Wasimi, Imasayi, Mowe and Ifoyintedo as claimed in budget documents.

OGGF provided the following breakdown of the alleged projects:

ERGP25237175 – N350 million (Ongoing)
Supply of medical equipment in selected healthcare centres and hospitals in Itele, Remo, Wasimi, Imasayi, Mowe and Ifoyintedo communities. Agency: University College Hospital, Ibadan.
The group said its field team found the health centres without beds, drugs or equipment.

ERGP20277807 – N500 million (Ongoing)
Provision of equipment and diagnostic instruments for General Hospital, Ayetoro, Yewa North, Ogun State. Agency: University College Hospital, Ibadan.
OGGF described the hospital as still in a poor state, with patients buying most items outside and non-functional X-ray and scan units.

Itori PHC projects – N420 million total (alleged duplication)
- ERGP25239412 – N70 million (Ongoing): Construction of Primary Health Centre, Itori, Abeokuta South Federal Constituency. Agency: Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Aro Abeokuta.
- ERGP20277808 – N350 million (Ongoing): Construction of Primary Health Centre, Itori, Abeokuta South Federal Constituency. Agency: University College Hospital, Ibadan.

The forum described the dual allocation for the same Primary Health Centre under different codes and agencies as “the height of fraud,” noting that no project exists on the ground in Itori despite the release of funds.

OGGF said the latest findings form part of a pattern it has previously highlighted, for which it claims Senator Yayi has not provided answers. It warned Ogun residents against being misled by billboards and social media commissioning events, arguing that large sums allocated in Abuja often fail to translate into facilities in communities.

The group issued a seven-day ultimatum, after which it said it would:

1. Formally petition the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) to investigate all constituency projects linked to Senator Yayi across 48 Ministries, Departments and Agencies from 2023 to date.
2. File Freedom of Information requests with University College Hospital, Ibadan, the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Aro, and other relevant agencies for procurement records.
3. Approach the Federal High Court in Abeokuta for an order of mandamus compelling accountability and a forensic audit of the projects.

“We will no longer allow Ogun State to be used as a budget farm for personal enrichment. Ogun must be free,” the statement concluded. It was signed by the Ogun Good Governance Forum.

As of the time of this report, there was no immediate public response from Senator Yayi or his representatives to the specific allegations.

OGUN 2027: HUNYE RAISES ALARM OVER ALLEGED PLOT TO WITHDRAW HIS SECURITY

The Media Office of Hon. Abayomi Hunye, leading governorship aspirant under the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State, wishes to bring to the urgent attention of the Inspector-General of Police, the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), the Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the national leadership of the APC, and the general public, a sinister plot to compromise the personal security and safety of Hon. Abayomi Hunye.

Credible intelligence available to our campaign structure confirms that strong pressure is currently being mounted by the Office of the Special Adviser to the Ogun State Governor on Security, in active conjunction with the Office of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), on state security agencies to immediately withdraw all security personnel attached to Hon. Abayomi Hunye.

This calculated attempt to strip Hon. Hunye of his legitimate security detail at a critical juncture in his political engagement represents a direct, dangerous threat to his life, his family, and members of his campaign organization.

We view this coordinated maneuver by certain high-handed state officials as a desperate, anti-democratic attempt to intimidate, silence, and physically jeopardize an aspirant whose rising political profile and commitment to democratic principles continue to resonate with the good people of Ogun State.

Politics must never be reduced to state-sponsored intimidation, political vendetta, or weaponized endangerment of human life.

The office of the Governor and its machinery exist to protect every citizen of Ogun State regardless of political alignment, not to strip opposition or competing intra-party figures of basic protection.

We categorically state as follows:

Direct Accountability: Should any harm, attempt on life, or breakdown of security occur around Hon. Abayomi Hunye, his family, or members of his campaign team, the political leadership of Ogun State, specifically the Office of the Special Adviser on Security and the Office of the SSG, will be held directly responsible by the public and law enforcement.

Urgent Intervention: We appeal to the Inspector-General of Police, the Chief of Army Staff, the Director-General of the DSS, and the State Commandant of the NSCDC, Ogun State Command, to resist political pressure from Ogun State officials and maintain or reinforce the security apparatus protecting Hon. Abayomi Hunye.

Unwavering Commitment: Hon. Abayomi Hunye remains unshakeable in his democratic resolve. No amount of intimidation, security withdrawal, or executive harassment will deter him from standing up for the constitutional rights of the people of Ogun State and pursuing his legitimate political aspirations.

We call on civil rights organizations, elder statesmen, political leaders across Nigeria, and the general public to take note of this developing threat to internal democracy and human safety in Ogun State.

TINUBU CONFRONTS YAYI OVER ₦1.8TRN BUDGET-PADDING CLAIMS: EFCC & ICPC PETITIONS ROCK HIS OGUN 2027 AMBITION

LAGOS — A late-night meeting between President Bola Tinubu and Senator Solomon Adeola, better known as Yayi, has left the Ogun APC governorship hopeful’s political future looking increasingly uncertain.

Sources familiar with the Sunday night encounter in Lagos say the President confronted Adeola with petitions lodged against him at the EFCC and ICPC. The complaints, allegedly filed by several civil society groups, centre on claims of large-scale budget padding and related financial irregularities.

According to those briefed on the discussions, Tinubu pressed for details of the evidence. What he heard reportedly involved allegations running into trillions of naira. One claim that particularly drew his anger was that only about 30 per cent of projects inserted into the budget are eventually executed, while payments continue for works that never take place, with funds said to have been channelled through front companies.

Adeola was given the chance to respond but, according to the same sources, failed to offer explanations the President found convincing. Tinubu is said to have told the senator bluntly: “You are becoming a dent on my administration.”

The President’s concern, insiders say, goes beyond the allegations themselves. With the 2027 elections on the horizon, he fears the claims could hand the opposition powerful campaign material and embarrass his government if they gain traction.

Adeola has been positioning himself as a leading contender for the Ogun governorship ticket. The reported confrontation, if accurate, risks complicating the APC’s internal calculations in the state.

His handlers have so far declined to discuss the substance of the meeting. They have instead presented it as a routine “father-and-son” visit during which the senator thanked the President for the signing of the $7 billion Olokola Deep Seaport project in Paris. That version of events has done little to quiet speculation in political circles that more was discussed behind closed doors.

Neither the Presidency nor Senator Adeola has publicly confirmed the confrontation or the specific contents of the petitions. The allegations remain unproven, and spokespeople for both the EFCC and ICPC were unavailable for comment when contacted.

YAYI: THE OMISORE OF OGUN! WHY YEWA MUST REVISIT THE LESSONS OF HISTORY

By Yomi Osibogun

For over fifty years since Ogun State was created, the Yewa/Awori people of Ogun West have waited for their turn at the governorship. Power has rotated between East and Central while the West watched from the sidelines. Now that the long-denied opportunity finally stands within grasp, one figure has repeatedly positioned himself as the decisive obstacle: Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as Yayi. In Nigerian political slang, his name is increasingly spoken alongside “Omisore”, the flexible operator who aligns with the strongest hand, switches calculations when convenient, and prioritises personal relevance over any collective agenda.

The comparison is no accident. Senator Iyiola Omisore earned his reputation in Osun State through calculated realignments that left his own party’s candidates exposed. In the 2018 Osun governorship election, Omisore ran as the Social Democratic Party candidate and finished third. When the poll was declared inconclusive and a rerun became necessary, he became the most courted figure in the state. Both the APC and PDP scrambled for his support. In the end, he threw his weight behind the APC’s Gboyega Oyetola, helping secure a narrow victory in the rerun. The move drew sharp criticism; Afenifere even suspended him for working against the broader progressive consensus and effectively undermining the PDP candidate who had been marginally ahead. Many saw it as classic political opportunism, sacrificing party loyalty for personal leverage and future relevance.

The pattern resurfaced in the 2026 Osun governorship contest. Allegations flew that Omisore, by then a senior APC figure and former National Secretary, withheld full support from the party’s candidate in key areas, particularly his Ife stronghold, contributing to the APC’s defeat. Party insiders accused him of prioritising his own long-term ambitions over the ticket, repeating the same flexibility that defined his 2018 manoeuvres. That is the Omisore brand: the man who can tilt an election by working against his own side when personal interest demands it.

It is precisely this brand that critics now attach to Yayi in Ogun State. The pattern is clear and documented. In the run-up to the 2019 governorship election, Yayi had earlier positioned himself as a strong contender from Ogun West and even enjoyed endorsements as a consensus figure from some consultative forums. He later withdrew from the race after the majority of support are in favours of Gboyega Nasir Isiaka. Instead of throwing his weight behind fellow Yewa aspirants, notably Gboyega Nasir Isiaka (GNI), who emerged as the African Democratic Congress candidate and carried significant regional goodwill, or Adekunle Akinlade of the Allied Peoples Movement, Yayi pitched his tent firmly with Dapo Abiodun’s Remo agenda.

Sources close to the politics of that period noted that Adeola, unhappy with former Governor Ibikunle Amosun’s opposition to his own earlier ambitions, retaliated by abandoning any firm commitment to an Ogun West governorship and backing Abiodun. Governor Abiodun has himself publicly acknowledged the critical role Yayi’s network played in the closely contested 2019 victory. What many in Yewaland saw as a golden chance for the zone was diluted by one man’s strategic realignment.

History repeated itself with sharper edges in 2023. Biyi Otegbeye, a Yewa son from Ilaro running on the ADC platform and openly backed by Amosun, emerged as the clearest regional challenge to Abiodun’s re-election. Once again, Yayi deployed his influence in Ogun West to shore up the incumbent. He publicly affirmed full support for Abiodun and the APC ticket, dismissing any suggestion of divided loyalties. When the results came in, Abiodun prevailed; Otegbeye finished a distant third. For many observers in the West, it was the second consecutive cycle in which Yayi’s machinery had worked against a credible Yewa candidacy, personal calculation over regional destiny, just as Omisore is accused of doing in Osun.

These are not distant memories. In July 2026, the Ogun West Concerned Stakeholders, meeting in Ilaro, openly rejected Adeola’s governorship aspiration. They accused him of having “fought against the success of Ogun West” in both 2019 and 2023, declaring that he “stood against this land he claimed to have come from, even when we know clearly that he’s never been one of us.” The group insisted his candidacy does not represent genuine Yewa-Awori interest and demanded candidates with verifiable local roots and a consistent record of advancing the zone’s agenda.

Adding fuel to the resistance are persistent questions about Yayi’s own origins and identity. Critics, including prominent voices from within and outside the APC, have alleged Ekiti ancestry and pointed to his decades-long political career representing Lagos constituencies before crossing into Ogun West in 2023. His aides have confirmed that he was originally known as Sulaimon Ogunleye and changed his name to Solomon Olamilekan Adeola after converting from Islam to Christianity while working at The Guardian. While they insist the change was personal and lawful, the complete transformation, coupled with competing claims about ancestral homes in Pahayi/Ilaro versus alleged Ekiti ties, has left many voters uneasy. In a zone hungry for authentic representation after half a century of exclusion, such unresolved questions create fertile ground for distrust.

Yayi’s defenders point to his projects as senator for Ogun West and the formal endorsement he now enjoys from Governor Abiodun and the APC structure as proof of competence and continuity. Yet for a growing number of Yewa voices, past actions speak louder. Twice the zone’s strongest opportunities were subordinated to calculations that kept power outside the West. Twice personal and strategic interests appeared to outweigh the equity agenda. The fear now is that the same pragmatism will be deployed again, this time to install as governor a figure many still regard as an outsider whose deepest political roots lie elsewhere.

The people of Ogun State are not without options. Rather than accept a foreigner in the person of Yayi as their governor, many are prepared to cast their votes for candidates of other political parties who are true sons of the soil and indigenes with clear, verifiable roots in the state.

At the same time, no sensible voter is expected to reward the APC with continued support. The cumulative weight of anti-people policies at both the federal and state levels has brought widespread hardship, rising costs of living, economic pressures that squeeze ordinary families, and governance that too often appears disconnected from the daily struggles of the people. Ogun citizens have felt the impact of these policies firsthand. Loyalty to a party that has delivered such suffering is no longer an automatic obligation.

Ogun State was home to organised kingdoms and sophisticated societies long before the modern Nigerian state was assembled. Its people have historically known how to defend their interests when the moment demanded clarity. The coming weeks and months will reveal whether that proud tradition still holds firm, or whether external calculations and the ambitions of a few will override the clear desire of the Ogun people. The people’s choice has a way of asserting itself in the end. The likes of Yayi who have worked against the interests of Yewa in the past would do well to remember that history is watching and will not forget.

📢 *GFF FREE MEDICAL OUTREACH: SPREAD THE WORD!*

As part of the Gateway Front Foundation (GFF) @25 Anniversary, a 14-day Free Medical Outreach and Surgical Mission will commence on October 9, 2026, in partnership with Sharing Hope Medical Mission (USA), Sharing Hope and Care Foundation, and Redeemer’s Health Village, Mowe.

The mission will provide free medical consultations, medications and supplies, eye care, major and minor surgeries, gynaecological procedures, orthopaedic care, and plastic (burn) surgeries.

📍 Medical services have been decentralised across Ogun State’s Local Government Areas to make treatment accessible to more residents and prevent overcrowding at Redeemer’s Health Village, Mowe. Patients requiring surgical procedures will be attended to at the health village.

📅 Date: October 9–24, 2026
⏰ Time: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. daily
📍 Venues: Designated centres across Ogun State, including Ijebu Igbo, Ijebu Ode, Sagamu, Ikenne, Abigi, Ijebu Mushin, Ode-Remo, and other locations. Redeemer’s Health Village, Mowe, will serve as the main centre for surgical cases.

This humanitarian initiative is sponsored by His Excellency, Senator Otunba Gbenga Daniel, as part of the GFF@25 celebration, bringing hope, quality healthcare, and relief to thousands of people.

Please share widely! Inform your family, friends, neighbours, and community members. Let everyone take advantage of this opportunity to access free medical care.

❤️ GFF@25: Celebrating 25 Years of Service, Empowerment and Community Development.

For enquiries, call:
📞 +234 805 688 5858
📞 +234 813 241 7537
📞 +234 803 226 2943
📞 +234 805 268 2904

🌐 www.gatewayfrontfoundation.org

APC’S DANGEROUS POLITICAL GAME? WHY OGUN CENTRAL MUST NOT IGNORE THE WARNING SIGNS

By A.R. Olanrewaju

Ogun Central is standing at a dangerous crossroads. The signs are already there, loud and unmistakable, yet many still look away. The ruling APC and its governorship candidate, Yayi, are playing a high-stakes political game that could once again leave the entire Central senatorial district: Abeokuta North, Abeokuta South, Ewekoro, Ifo, Obafemi Owode and Odeda, on the margins of power and development.

Looking at the record of the current administration under Dapo Abiodun. For nearly seven and a half years, Central has been deliberately sidelined. There has been no strong voice at the highest level of government fighting for its share of projects, attention and resources. Anyone visiting Abeokuta for the first time would struggle to believe it is the capital of the Gateway State. While other states such as Kwara, Abia, Kaduna and Akwa Ibom just to mention a few, push ahead with visible, rapid developments, the city has largely stood still despite huge increase in Federal allocation and IGR that has tripled in the last few years.

The last period of meaningful progress came under former Governor Ibikunle Amosun. Many of his major projects were left unfinished and abandoned. Only recently, after years of neglect, has the present government begun to show limited interest in some of them. One clear example is the Gateway Medical Centre. It was already about 95 percent completed during Amosun’s tenure and was even commissioned by the late President Muhammadu Buhari. Yet it was left to waste for over seven years before any serious revival through public-private arrangements.

The daily reality on the ground makes the warning even sharper. Residents and observers have repeatedly pointed to the poor state of roads across Abeokuta and the wider Central district. From the approaches into the capital to key internal routes, the condition of infrastructure has drawn sustained public complaint. Independent assessments have ranked Ogun among states with some of the worst roads in the country in recent years. Groups representing Egba interests have openly called for the restoration of development momentum in Ogun Central, noting a clear slowdown after the Amosun years. When a capital city struggles with basic connectivity and the visible signs of progress remain limited for so long, it is not an accident. It is the direct result of political priorities that leave whole sections of the state without a strong advocate at the top table.

Now another election cycle is here, Yayi, the APC governorship flagbearer, and his deputy come from different senatorial zones. Beyond that, serious questions continue to surround Yayi’s indigene status. Many people insist he is not of pure Yewa origin and point instead to roots outside the state, including claims linking him to Ekiti, another issue is the crisis surrounding his name change, Yayi’s identity has been the subject of questions. He entered the public space as Sulaimon Ogunleye. Then, while working at The Guardian in the 1990s, he began using the name Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, reportedly citing a “born-again” conversion. That explanation has itself become a subject of debate.

Yet Corporate Affairs Commission records from 2000 and 2018 reportedly still list Ogunleye in connection with his company filings. The old name appears not to have disappeared entirely.
So the question is simple: was this a genuine rebirth or a deliberate change in identity?
The debate has grown public and intense, with traditional voices, family members and political actors trading claims and counter-claims. If APC and Yayi succeed in this contest, the Central faces the real prospect of another four to eight years without anyone at the highest level protecting its interests. The pattern of the last seven and a half years would simply continue under a new face.

There is another troubling pattern. Key positions in the APC campaign structure are being filled by people from outside Ogun State. A clear case is Babatunde Adejare, Secretary of the Ogun APC Campaign Council. He previously served as a member of the House of Representatives from Agege Federal Constituency in Lagos. With so many capable and experienced political leaders already in Ogun, why does the campaign keep reaching outside the state for such strategic roles? This importation of external figures raises legitimate fears that the next government, if formed by APC and Yayi, will once again operate as a network of patronage rather than a government rooted in the lived realities of the three senatorial districts.

These are difficult and risky times for the people from the Central. The choice before them is clear. They can accept another season of marginalization under a government that appears more focused on patronage for a few, or they can support a ticket that has one of their own daughters as the deputy governorship candidate after eight long years of being ignored. Ogun Central has always been politically sophisticated and decisive. In 2027 it may well determine the outcome. The people of the six local governments that make up the district must decide whether they will once again be spectators to decisions made elsewhere or demand a place at the centre of power.

Ogun people deserve leadership that is firmly rooted in the state, that understands their daily struggles, and that remains accountable to them. Not a government that imports influence and leaves whole senatorial districts behind. The warnings are already visible in the state of the capital, the delayed attention to major projects, the questions around origin, name change, and the structure of the campaign itself. Ignoring them would be a costly mistake. When will the people of Central finally say enough is enough? Ogun Decides 2027 must be about the will of the people, not the calculations of a few outsiders.

BUSES, BILLBOARDS AND BITTERNESS: OGUN PEOPLE FUME OVER CAMPAIGN EXTRAVAGANCE

By Yomi Osibogun

Senator Solomon Adeola Yayi has rolled out a long convoy of branded campaign buses and vehicles, thanking his friends and associates for donating them to his 2027 governorship campaign. This is a shameful display that should never be encouraged. In Ogun State, millions of ordinary people struggle every day for one square meal, have no reliable ambulances, face broken hospitals, poor education, bad roads and zero basic social amenities. Yet politicians can suddenly produce a private fleet of campaign vehicles with ease.

The public is really angry. People see the contrast clearly and they are furious. While the sick die waiting for emergency transport that never arrives, these big men parade shiny buses meant only for rallies, door-to-door mobilisation and political shows. One lonely ambulance may appear in the convoy as window dressing, but the rest of the fleet is built purely for the hustle of power. This is not generosity. It is a brazen insult to suffering citizens.

Look at the donors. Majority of these so-called generous friends and their own family members do not even have access to an ambulance when real health emergencies hit their homes. They can donate campaign buses in large numbers, yet basic life-saving care remains out of reach for them and for everyone else. The streets still hold the hungry. The hospitals still scramble. The next emergency still has no reliable ride. This priority is completely upside down.

There is more to this charade than meets the eye. Serious allegations of budget padding up to the tune of 1.8 trillion naira hang over Yayi. When dozens of vehicles appear so conveniently for a campaign, questions must be asked about the true source of these assets. Ogun people are not fools. They have watched too many public projects under-deliver while political logistics appear overnight.

This kind of spectacle must not be encouraged. It teaches the wrong lesson: that resources flow freely when votes are at stake, but dry up when lives need saving. A serving senator’s real duty is legislation, oversight and delivering results for the people, not staging glossy mobilisations with campaign fleets while basic services rot.

Ordinary citizens have spoken with raw anger. They point out that ambulances are missing from hospitals while campaign buses fill the roads. They see hungry people and homeless children on the streets while politicians celebrate private donations for political ambition. They refuse to clap for this nonsense.

The message from the people is direct and clear. Stop treating ambulances as optional extras and campaign fleets as non-negotiable. The convoy looks impressive on camera, but the reality it exposes is ugly. When it comes to moving supporters for votes, money and vehicles appear. When it comes to moving the dying to care, there is only silence.

Nigerians, and especially the people of Ogun State, cannot be deceived any longer. This parade of campaign buses while millions suffer is proof of inverted priorities and broken trust. It is a shameful act that deepens public rage.

Until politicians put the real needs of the masses first, food, healthcare, ambulances, education and infrastructure, every shiny political convoy will only fuel more anger and rejection. The people are watching, and they are not impressed.

Yomi Osibogun, is a public commentator from Ijebu-Ode

OGUN 2027 WARNING: APC OR PDP - CONTINUED HARDSHIP OR A NEW PATH TO DEVELOPMENT

By A.R. Olanrewaju

Ogun State stands at a crossroads. The 2027 elections are not just another contest for power. They are a referendum on whether the people of Ogun will continue to endure stagnation, weak local government, and external control or finally reclaim the progressive energy that once defined this state.

For too long, the All Progressives Congress has delivered disappointment at both the federal and state levels. In Ogun, the record is particularly stark. The last period of broad, visible good governance remains the PDP years under Otunba Gbenga Daniel. Local governments received their allocations directly. Chairmen commissioned projects with regularity. Development reached communities across the state. The economy hummed with enough vitality to attract foreign direct investment. That era proved what focused, accountable leadership could achieve.

Since the APC took the reins, the story has changed. Development has slowed to a crawl. The most recent chapter people still discuss with any measure of approval belongs to the Amosun years. Under Governor Dapo Abiodun, the performance has been widely viewed as abysmal. No major hospitals or model schools have been built from the ground up. Tangible, transformative infrastructure remains scarce. The much-discussed agro-cargo airport was conceptualized in the Daniel era. Local government autonomy has been absent. Progress has stagnated while ordinary citizens continue to feel the weight of underwhelming results.

This pattern is not accidental. Many observers see the installation of compliant leadership in Ogun as part of a broader design that keeps the state subordinate to external interests, particularly those associated with the powerful Lagos political machine often referred to as Babasope. The elevation of candidates whose roots and loyalties invite questions only deepens the concern. Allegations surrounding the origins of figures like Yayi raise legitimate fears that Ogun’s resources could be directed elsewhere while genuine development takes a back seat. With so many capable sons and daughters of Ogun available, the choice of leadership that feels imported or controlled is an insult to the state’s dignity by APC.

Yewa and Awori people, in particular, should pay close attention. A birthright of political relevance and fair representation risks being sidelined when controversial claims of origin enter the equation. Across the South-West, the consequences of prolonged APC dominance are visible. In Osun, years of underdevelopment and delayed salaries under APC by Aregbesola and Oyetola missrule only began to ease after a change in government. Tribal sentiment has sometimes blinded people to these patterns. Babasope’s influence has functioned as a quiet constraint of regional autonomy, and Ogun has paid a price.

The alternative is clear. The Peoples Democratic Party and Ladi Adebutu offer a path rooted in Ogun, accountable to Ogun, and focused on Ogun. Ladi brings the track record of a successful entrepreneur and a true son of the soil with solid antecedents. His commitment to genuine local government autonomy, ensuring councils receive their funds directly, speaks directly to the development model that once worked. That approach can restore the energy of local projects, revive economic momentum, and put decision-making closer to the people who live with the consequences.

Ogun deserves leadership that does not treat the state as a vassal. It deserves governors and officials whose first loyalty is to the people of this state, not to distant power brokers. APC rule has brought too much suffering and too little progress. Continuing down the same path with the same party, the same networks, and candidates whose ties raise more questions than confidence would be a self-inflicted wound.

The people of Ogun still hold the power to change course. Shine your eyes, demand better. In 2027, reject APC, reject Yayi, and reject any arrangement that keeps Ogun underdeveloped by design. Choose leadership that is home-grown, transparent, and determined to put local governments and ordinary citizens first. The state that once attracted investment and commissioned projects at the grassroots can do so again. But only if the people refuse to accept mediocrity as destiny.

The warning is simple: stay silent or stay stagnant. Ogun’s future will be decided by those who still believe it can be greater than the sum of its recent disappointments.

A.R. Olanrewaju is a political analyst, writer, public affairs commentator and New Media professional.

JUST IN: LADI ADEBUTU ON COURSE TO TAKE OKE-MOSAN IN 2027 AHEAD OF YAYI! THE NUMBERS TELL A STORY

By A.R. Olanrewaju


In the 2023 Ogun governorship election, Dapo Abiodun APC defeated Adebutu by a narrow margin of about 13,915 votes (276,298 to 262,383), with Adebutu winning 8 LGAs, heavily concentrated in Ogun East, and Abiodun taking 12. Turnout data and zone strengths, combined with Yayi’s vulnerabilities and PDP gains, point to Adebutu consolidating and expanding that base.

2023 Baseline and Zone Strengths
Ogun’s three senatorial districts have distinct voter pools and historical leanings:

Ogun East 9 LGAs: Ijebu East, Ijebu North, Ijebu North East, Ijebu Ode, Ikenne, Odogbolu, Ogun Waterside, Remo North and Sagamu: 788,245 registered voters; 2023 turnout 26.78% (~211,000 votes cast). Adebutu from the Odogbolu/Remo axis performed strongly there, winning a clear majority of these LGAs, user note of 7/9 aligns with reported PDP wins in Ikenne, Remo North, Odogbolu, Waterside, Ijebu North East, Ijebu East, and others. East voters showed higher engagement than Central.

Ogun Central 6 LGAs: Abeokuta North, Abeokuta South, Ewekoro, Ifo, Obafemi Owode and Odeda: 1,040,317 registered voters (largest pool); 2023 turnout only 21.40% (~222,600 votes). Mixed results, with Adebutu competitive (e.g., strong in Abeokuta South).

Ogun West 5 LGAs: Ado-Odo/Ota, Yewa North, Yewa South, Imeko Afon, Ipokia: 859,743 registered voters; 2023 turnout 26.78% (~230,000 votes). This was a relative APC/Yayi stronghold area, though third-party (ADC, linked to Amosun) also took significant shares in places.

Overall 2023 registered voters were around 2.69 million, with total votes cast under 670,000—low turnout creates room for mobilization shifts. Adebutu’s core strength was East + parts of Central; Yayi (as a West-based figure and current Ogun West senator) draws primarily from West.

Why Adebutu Is Positioned to Expand and Win
Ogun East consolidation: As an East indigene, Adebutu benefits from zonal solidarity. The assessment that he can take all or nearly all 9 East LGAs in 2027 is plausible. Higher 2023 turnout there already favored engaged local bases. Expanding from 7–8 LGAs to a near-sweep would deliver a large, reliable vote bloc that West alone cannot offset, especially if East turnout holds or rises with home-son mobilization.

Ogun Central boost via Iyabo Obasanjo, Sowunmi-Kolapo, and PDP synergy: Central has the biggest registered-voter pool but the lowest 2023 turnout, significant upside potential. Iyabo Obasanjo, former senator for the district, daughter of the former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, is the PDP candidate for the Central senatorial seat and is more popular and better regarded than the incumbent Senator. Her name recognition, family legacy, and campaigning create a coattail effect that can lift Adebutu and the PDP governorship numbers substantially across Abeokuta and surrounding LGAs.

This is powerfully reinforced by Adebutu’s running mate, Alhaja Lateefah Yemi Sowunmi-Kolapo, a Central Egba indigene. She is a veteran journalist, former Punch Newspapers editor/Group Business Editor, publisher of The Point, highly respected administrator, and community leader with deep grassroots roots.
Critically, she holds the titles of Iya Suna of Egbaland, the leading Muslim women leader in the Egba community and Ameerah of Ogun State, the statewide Muslim women leader. These roles give her unmatched influence among Muslim women networks, religious bodies, and community organizations across Central, particularly in Abeokuta and Egba areas. Her solid grassroots support, combined with her media profile and philanthropy, strengthens PDP’s appeal to women voters, religious constituencies, and local influencers who drive turnout in a low-engagement zone.

Together with Iyabo Obasanjo, the ticket offers dual high-profile Central anchors that make a strong dominant Central performance highly realistic, converting the largest voter pool into a decisive PDP asset.

Yayi’s constrained base and popularity erosion: Yayi’s primary strength is Ogun West. Even a strong West performance is unlikely to close the gap if Adebutu sweeps East and performs well in Central, the arithmetic of registered voters and 2023 turnout volumes does not favor a West-only strategy against two other zones.

Allegations of non-indigene status, claims linking Yayi more to Ekiti/Lagos roots, with questions over Ogun ties and past affidavits and related perjury issues have become a live campaign theme. These resonate with “vote for our own and no outsider, Ogun4Ogun” sentiment among significant numbers of voters, particularly outside West. Such identity-based attacks, if sustained, suppress enthusiasm and crossover support for Yayi while reinforcing Adebutu’s local credentials.

APC internal fractures, Amosun and Daniel factors: Former Governor Ibikunle Amosun and former Governor Gbenga Daniel are noted as aggrieved over senatorial ticket issues in their zones. In 2023, Amosun-backed ADC already split votes and won several wards, diluting APC totals. Continued dissatisfaction or passive active opposition from these networks in 2027 would further weaken APC cohesion, turnout, and vote concentration, especially in Central and parts of East and West, while PDP remains relatively unified behind Adebutu, who has secured the party’s ticket and screening clearance.

Projected Dynamics and Path to Victory
Adebutu starts from a near-parity 2023 position and adds: fuller East ownership, Central uplift from the dual appeal of Iyabo Obasanjo and Sowunmi-Kolapo religious and community influence, media credibility, grassroots reach, and relative insulation from the “outsider” narrative.

Yayi is largely confined to maximizing West while fighting defensive battles on identity, scandals and managing APC disunity. West’s ~230k 2023 votes, even if increased are insufficient against combined East + Central gains.
Low overall turnout means organized ground operations, zonal solidarity messaging, women’s and religious network mobilization, leveraging Sowunmi-Kolapo’s titles, and anti-incumbency or continuity fatigue can swing large numbers. PDP appears better positioned to consolidate opposition and dissatisfied APC elements.

Caveats: Nigerian elections remain fluid, incumbency resources, federal dynamics, late scandals, vote-buying claims which affected both sides in 2023 discourse, security, and actual turnout can alter outcomes. Yayi retains organizational strength as a sitting senator and strong West mobilization could tighten the race. However, on the provided 2023 turnout geography, Adebutu’s East base, the reinforced Central upside through Iyabo and especially Sowunmi-Kolapo’s deep Egba Muslim and community networks, Yayi’s geographic limits, and the cited scandals and party fractures, the balance of probabilities currently favors Adebutu and the PDP prevailing in 2027. The 2023 near-miss becomes a platform rather than a ceiling if these trends hold.

BREAKING: YAYI'S SECRET EXPOSED? COMPANY, NAME & ROOTS CONTROVERSIES ROCK HIS 2027 BID

By Damola Ayorinde


A political earthquake is about to hit Ogun State, and Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, the man who calls himself Yayi, sits dead center of the blast zone. His gubernatorial dream is not a vision for the people. It is a calculated power grab built on contradictions, concealment, and a name he cannot even keep consistent. Ogun will not be fooled and Ogun will not be swallowed.

Yayi’s identity is a moving target. He entered the public space as Sulaimon Ogunleye. Then, while working at The Guardian in the 1990s, he reinvented himself as Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, citing a “Born Again” conversion. Convenient story. Yet Corporate Affairs Commission records from 2000 and 2018 still list Ogunleye on his company filings. The old name refuses to die. So the question is brutal and simple: is this a genuine rebirth or a deliberate cover? Men who change names for convenience rarely stop at names.

He parades himself as a seasoned accountant. Where is the firm? Where is the practice registration? Where is the proof of ownership? Silence. Instead, the public is handed Soothem companies registered for photography and engineering, sectors that have nothing to do with the professional image he sells. Worse still is Compass Astra Energy, a contractor linked to projects associated with him and operating from his own property address. That is not business. That is a textbook conflict of interest that mocks every procurement rule and smells of outright criminality. Transparency is not optional for a man who wants to control a state’s treasury. Yayi has offered none.

Then comes the most explosive charge of all: roots. Yayi loudly claims Ogun blood. Independent reports and legal accusations, including perjury allegations from Abayomi Hunye’s legal aide, point to Ekiti origins. If true, this is not a minor biographical error. It is a fundamental fraud against the people he seeks to lead. A man who cannot prove he belongs has no moral right to demand the highest office in the land.

Ogun State is not a colony, It is not an extension of Lagos political machinery. It will not become a playground for expansionist interests that treat its people as secondary. Leadership must be rooted here, accountable here, and loyal here. Anything less is surrender.

This is the moment of decision. The electorate must reject the packaging, reject the soft-spoken campaign gloss, and reject the carefully curated biography. Demand the documents. Demand the firm. Demand the birth records. Demand answers that hold up under daylight.

Ogun does not need another smooth operator with shifting identities and unanswered questions. It needs a governor whose name, roots, and record are solid, open, and beyond dispute. Yayi’s project fails every one of those tests.

We all need to stand up now and speak up. Vote with eyes wide open. Crush the deception before it takes root. Ogun’s future is not for sale, not for disguise, and not for conquest. The firestorm has begun. Let it consume every lie.

NBC President Rev. Dr. David Olusola Idowu visited Gbenga Daniel in Ogun State, where the Asiwaju of Remo Christians donated a 30-seater Toyota bus to Abraham Tabernacle Chorale
NBC President Idowu Visits Senator Gbenga Daniel, Receives 30-Seater Bus
The newly elected President of the Nigerian Baptist Convention (NBC), Rev. Dr. David Olusola Idowu, has paid a courtesy visit to Senator Otunba Engr. Gbenga Daniel, the Asiwaju of Remo Christians, as part of efforts to strengthen engagement with prominent stakeholders in the Christian community.

During the visit, Idowu commended Daniel for his consistent support for the Christian community, describing him as a “rare bridge-builder” whose gestures had continued to strengthen the church across Remoland and beyond.

The visit also featured a major intervention for the Abraham Tabernacle Chorale, with Daniel donating a 30-seater Toyota bus to the music ministry.

The vehicle was formally presented to the chorale by Idowu on behalf of Daniel.
Idowu’s engagement with Daniel comes against the backdrop of the latter’s longstanding involvement with Christian activities in Remoland, including the annual Asiwaju of Remo Christians Choir Festival hosted at Abraham’s Tabernacle in Sagamu. The choir festival has been associated with Daniel for years and is aimed at promoting choral music and Christian fellowship.

Abraham’s Tabernacle Chorale, the music ministry of Abraham’s Tabernacle International Worship Centre in Sagamu, Ogun State, operates under the resident pastorate of Olaniyan and has participated in Baptist conventions, conferences and interdenominational programmes.

The bus donation is expected to ease transportation challenges faced by the chorale and improve its ability to participate in programmes and gospel outreaches beyond its home base in Sagamu.

The Nigerian Baptist Convention, one of Nigeria’s major Baptist bodies, has a nationwide network of churches and institutions and maintains programmes spanning evangelism, theological education, healthcare and community development.

Idowu assumed the leadership of the Convention in 2026 following the transition from the administration of Rev. Dr. Israel Adelani Akanji. Reports on the leadership transition identified Idowu as the incoming president ahead of his emergence at the Convention’s 113th Annual Convention-in-Session.

YAYI UNDER FIRE: BRANDED GARRI DISTRIBUTION SPARKS OUTRAGE ACROSS OGUN

By A.R. Olanrewaju


Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (Yayi), the APC candidate for the 2027 Ogun State governorship election, has drawn online criticism on X and Facebook after a video circulated showing him and associates posing with and handling campaign-branded bags of garri.

A post by the civic technology account @monitng described the distribution of the 4kg bags of garri as “stomach infrastructure.” The account wrote that Ogun residents have “outgrown this type of ‘stomach infrastructure’ as a form of empowerment” and argued that in 2026 people deserve more than temporary food items. It questioned the lasting impact of the gesture, noting that the garri would be consumed quickly while challenges such as unemployment, poor infrastructure, healthcare gaps, and insecurity remain. The post urged residents to look beyond short-term gifts and demand sustainable programmes on jobs, education, infrastructure, and business support. It carried the hashtag #SayNo4kgofGarri.

A separate post by @ogundamisi
shared similar footage under the caption “GARRI FOR VOTES,” stating that the APC Ogun candidate had launched a garri incentive for voters with assurances that “this will go round.” Other users on the platform echoed the theme, with one describing campaign videos that feature distributions of rice, garri, and other items as capitalizing on poverty levels.

These reactions sit within a long-running Nigerian political debate over “stomach infrastructure”, the practice of handing out food or small material items during campaigns. Critics of such approaches generally argue that they prioritise short-term relief over structural solutions. In this instance, the visible criticism has so far centred on X and Facebook posts reacting to the specific video and across major news platforms.Yayi continues to campaign as the APC flagbearer amid other ongoing political discussions in the state, including questions around his background. The garri episode is one of the many elements of pressures surrounding Yayi’s candidacy.

Concurrent political battles in Ogun State. The most prominent ongoing dispute centres on his indigeneship. Opponents, including PDP governorship hopeful Oladipupo Adebutu and party figures such as Folake Marcus-Bello, have publicly claimed he originates from Ekiti State rather than Ogun. They have challenged him to take legal action and asserted they possess supporting material. Yayi has rejected the allegations as false and libellous, given critics a deadline to produce evidence, and threatened lawsuits.

Earlier, some Ogun West stakeholders publicly opposed his governorship ambition, questioning both his roots and his past level of involvement in the zone’s political struggles. The 2027 race itself remains competitive, with Yayi still holding the APC ticket while facing organised opposition efforts to keep questions of identity and delivery alive.

These threads online pushback against the style of empowerment gestures and the unresolved ancestry dispute form part of the pre-election landscape in Ogun State as opposition candidates and their supporters continue to contest narratives around record, identity and priorities.

MORE TROUBLE FOR YAYI: EKITI ROOTS, PRIMARY AND COURT BATTLES ROCK HIS OGUN 2027 AMBITION

By A.R. Olanrewaju


Something strange and relentless is unfolding in Ogun politics. One voice after another is rising against Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly called Yayi, and the pressure is clearly rattling him. What do these people know that is making the APC governorship candidate scramble for validity at every turn? What started as quiet doubts has exploded into a full-blown political earthquake.

It began with Wale Adedayo, the former Ijebu East local government chairman. On national television he looked straight at the camera and declared that Yayi cannot win the 2027 election. He called him by an older name, Sulaimon Ogunleye, and insisted the man is from Ekiti State with no genuine roots in Ogun. Adedayo challenged him to prove his ancestry once and for all. The statement refused to die.

Then came Ambassador Folake Marcus-Bello with a shocking detailed account that has kept the state talking. She recalled that while Yayi worked at The Guardian he claimed Ekiti indigenehip. He later left the newspaper, reappeared with a new public name and face, moved through the Lagos State House of Assembly and the Senate, and only then landed in Ogun West. “So now it’s Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun,” she said. She pointed to the burial of his father in Ekiti and his mother in Epe, Lagos, and insisted she has documents, including a burial programme carrying his family oriki. Marcus-Bello has stood firm even after Yayi’s 24-hour lawsuit threats.

Adedeji Adetunji Akeem has added another uncomfortable layer. He has been telling stories of how certain people allegedly brought Yayi to Pahayi Isaga so he could buy the family name Ogundimu and appear as a local son. These accounts have spread widely online and refuse to fade.

Ladi Adebutu, the PDP candidate and a clear son of Iperu and Odogbolu, has also dared Yayi to sue him. He openly called Yayi a fake indigene of Ogun State and said he is waiting with documents ready for court. Chief Alani Bankole, the respected Egba high chief, has thrown his support behind all these allegations, pointing accusing fingers to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for forcing an outsider on Ogun State as a governorship candidate, sending a strong traditional signal that more weight has shifted away from Yayi.

Abayomi Hunye has kept the heat high from inside the APC itself. He insists the primary that produced Yayi as candidate was deeply flawed. According to Hunye, he paid ₦50 million for the nomination form, was screened and cleared, yet the official result gave him zero votes across the entire state while Yayi took nearly all. He has gone to court, arguing lack of fairness, transparency and widespread irregularities. Hunye questions how an aspirant who participated could score nothing, and he has challenged the party over claims that he was suspended before the process. He continues to insist the primary cannot stand and has even unveiled a running mate while the legal battle continues. Online discussions are full of people asking the same hard questions about how such a result was possible.

Other voices online have joined the chorus. Some indigenes have publicly asked Yayi to produce his maternal relatives in Kemta and explain inconsistencies in the family stories that keep changing from one community to another. The questions about Pahayi, Isaga, Ilaro and Kemta keep returning because clear, consistent answers have been hard to find.

Beyond the ancestry storm, thousands of observers point to something else that troubles them: Yayi’s style. Critics say his quick threats of lawsuits, his dismissive tone toward opponents, and the high-handed way his camp has handled challenges show arrogance and a lack of basic manners. They argue that a man who wants to be called “His Excellency” should display more patience, humility and respect. Instead, the constant legal ultimatums and sharp responses have left the impression of someone more desperate in silencing questions than answering them calmly. That perception is spreading among ordinary thousands of voters who expect a governor to carry himself with dignity which he lacks.

Yayi’s camp has responded with family videos, traditional endorsements and repeated denials. The 24-hour ultimatums came and went without the full public proof many demanded. The more the questions grow, the more defensive the replies appear. Attempts to diminish the standing status of established Ogun figures such as Sir Kessington Adebutu who happened to be the father of his major political candidate have only deepened the resentment across Ogun State.

This is no longer quiet talk in corners. It is an open, noisy debate about belonging, fairness and character. Yewa people have waited long for their turn at the governorship. Many now ask why they should accept a candidate still struggling to settle basic questions about his own story while the primary that brought him forward remains under legal cloud.

The voices against Yayi keep multiplying everyday. Wale Adedayo, Marcus-Bello, Adedeji Adetunji Akeem, Chief Alani Bankole, Ladi Adebutu, Abayomi Hunye and many others online are not going quiet. Each new revelation adds weight. The foundation under Yayi’s ambition is shaking, and thousands more residents of Ogun State are watching closely.

Ogun voters know what they want and they are watching the spectacle, and more of them are deciding they want clarity, fairness and character, not more confusion, threats and shifting stories. They want a leader whose character shows the patience and respect expected of someone seeking the highest office in the state. They do not want more confusion, more threats, more shifting stories or more signs of arrogance. 2027 should be about Ogun for Ogun. The growing voices against Yayi are making that message louder every day. The good people of Ogun State are aware of all these issues and will make their choice through their votes when the time comes.

YAYI SHAMEFUL ATTACKS ON LADI FOR FARMING: IS THIS THE DISRESPECT OGUN SHOULD ACCEPT IN 2027?

By A.R. Olanrewaju

There is something telling about a political campaign when candidates mock honest work instead of presenting clear plans for the people.

At the recent Caucus 7202 mega rally in Ijebu-Ode, Governor Dapo Abiodun and Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (Yayi) mobilised support for 2027. In the process, Yayi took a shameless swipe at his major opponent, Ladi Adebutu, over his involvement in pig farming.

In a nation where millions of young people need jobs and food security remains a national priority, what is embarrassing about owning a large agricultural business that employs hundreds, produces food, invests private capital and has operated for years?

Solomon Kessington Agro-Allied Limited in Iperu-Remo, linked to Ladi Adebutu, is a major livestock enterprise. Media reports, including from The Guardian, have long described his large-scale piggery and poultry operations as among the significant privately owned agricultural businesses in Nigeria. Farming is noble. Creating jobs is progressive. Building an enterprise that sustains livelihoods is exactly the kind of private-sector leadership Ogun needs. Mocking it is not strength; it is emptiness.

Does Yayi run a private business in Nigeria that employs teeming young people? How many jobs has it created? How much does it contribute to Ogun’s economy or tax revenue? Simply labelling Adebutu “a farmer who rears pigs” is not an argument. It is political mockery that should be condemned. Ogun deserves better.

Ladi Adebutu can point to a long-standing private enterprise publicly documented since at least 2019. Yayi cannot. Public office should not be the only test of capacity. Voters must weigh real experience in building and sustaining businesses outside government.

Voters should also demand answers on the unresolved controversy surrounding Senator Adeola’s ancestry and earlier name history. Former Ijebu East Local Government chairman Wale Adedayo raised these claims on Channels Television. They have circulated widely. If the allegations are false, credible documentary evidence should settle them. The prolonged silence only fuels questions. Ogun voters have every right to ask: what is the verified record of Yayi origin and identity?

The 2027 election must rise above personalities and party labels. It must be about the future of Ogun State. The APC has governed for years and must defend its record. Voters should press every candidate, especially Yayi, on concrete results and plans: what has improved or deteriorated for workers, farmers, traders, students and small businesses? What is the position on local government financial autonomy? What are the clear strategies for electricity, youth employment, rural roads, agricultural development, healthcare, the cost of living, and attracting industries that create better-paying jobs?

Adebutu’s has spoken of grassroots development, agriculture, electricity generation and greater local government independence. APC and Yayi must present equally detailed records and plans. Present the evidence. Let the people compare.

Nigeria does not need politicians like Yayi teaching young people that farming is shameful. It needs more food producers, more employers of labour and more entrepreneurs who put capital and energy into productive work. Ladi Adebutu, who employs hundreds and pays salaries, deserves respect. Political competition should reward those who build, not those who mock builders.

In 2027, Ogun should not elect the candidate with the sharpest insult. It should elect the one with the strongest private-sector record, the one with strong ancestral lineage and the clearest vision and the proven capacity to deliver. Let the farmers farm. Let the entrepreneurs build. Let the politicians answer hard questions. And let the people decide.

YAYI’S DARK SECRETS EXPOSED: WHY OGUN MUST REJECT HIM IN 2027

By A.R. Olanrewaju


The bombshell dropped live on national television, and Ogun State is still reeling. On Channels TV’s Politics Today, Wale Adedayo didn’t mince words. He looked into the camera and declared that the man parading himself as Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly called Yayi, the APC’s 2027 governorship hopeful, is none other than Sulaimon Ogunleye from Ekiti State. “Should I call him Sulaimon Ogunleye? He is from Ekiti. It is Solomon Adeola. The man you call Yayi. That was his original name,” Adedayo charged, daring Yayi to prove his claimed Ogun roots, something he has failed to do convincingly to this day.

Yayi has not denied it. He has not come out with ironclad family records, village elders from a clear lineage, or any definitive defence that silences the questions. Instead, the silence hangs heavy, feeding the growing suspicion that something is deeply wrong. Ogun electorates should open their eyes. This is not ordinary political mudslinging. This is a man whose entire identity appears built on shifting sands. Why the total name change? From Sulaimon Ogunleye to Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, complete with a new surname that conveniently distances him from the old one. His aids and supporters have floated stories of religious conversion, but why the full overhaul?

Why did Yayi bury his original name so thoroughly? And more critically, is it true he hails from Ekiti as alleged by Adedayo and others? Adedayo’s public challenge remains unanswered in any way that settles the matter. These are not minor details. They cut to the heart of trust. A man who cannot or will not clearly account for who he was and where he came from has no business asking to be the governor of Ogun State.

Lets look at the pattern. Yayi built his political career over more than two decades in Lagos, House of Assembly, House of Representatives for Alimosho, then Senator for Lagos West. That is where the money, the networks, and the power base were forged. Suddenly, the transition to Ogun West as senator, and now the full push for Ogun governorship. Why? Why abandon the state where he rose and plant himself here? What hidden agenda drives a politician with deep Lagos roots to suddenly claim Ogun as home just as the biggest prize comes into view? Ogun people have every right to demand answers. What was his employment history before the political climb? The records point to accounting work, including years at The Guardian, but the full picture of how he moved from there into the corridors of power remains cloudy to many. Baggages trail him, indigeneship disputes that keep resurfacing, from earlier challenges in 2018 to the latest public accusations.

Ogun State deserves better than alleged fraudulent claims of ancestry. Adedayo put it plainly: using “pecuniary means to claim ancestry is fraudulent.” True sons of the soil do not need to scramble for maternal relatives in Kemta or shift stories about Pahayi in Ilaro when the heat rises. They stand on solid ground. Yayi’s inability or refusal to put these scandals to rest once and for all is reason enough for every thinking electorate to turn away.

As 2027 draws closer, the choice is clear. Ogun needs a genuine son of the state, someone with no cloud of disputed origins, no unexplained name transformations, no sudden switch from Lagos politics, and no trail of unanswered questions about roots and motives. A true product of Ogun, with deep family ties and a consistent record of commitment to the people here. No mystery identities. No need to invent or defend a new hometown. Just a clear-eyed leader ready to put Ogun first without the scandal and suspicion that cling to Yayi.

The electorates must ask the bitter questions now, before it is too late: Why the name change? Why the silence on the Ekiti claim? Why the jump from Lagos to Ogun? What agenda is hidden behind the carefully crafted image? The answers, or the lack of them, speak volumes. Ogun people should not gamble the future of their state on a man whose past refuses to stay quiet. They should stand with integrity. Ogun deserves a governor free of these damning shadows.

AI OR 419? YAYI’S DIGITAL SHOWDOWN PUTS OGUN ON ALERT!

By A.R. Olanrewaju


Senator Solomon Adeola Olamilekan, popularly known as Yayi, the APC governorship candidate for Ogun State, is facing intense public scrutiny over images of federal government projects he claims to have facilitated. Circulating comparisons on X (twitter) and Facebook shows stark differences between what appears to be the actual state of certain works and the polished, upgraded versions posted online, images critics describe as AI-edited or digitally enhanced to inflate achievements.

This is not an isolated social media spat. Posts highlight side-by-side examples, including road projects where the “delivered” visuals look markedly improved over on-ground reality. Users have labeled it AI enhancement of constituency projects, with one noting a common road presented in an unrealistically perfected form. The timing amid his push for the 2027 governorship, has amplified calls for full scrutiny of every project Yayi has publicly claimed credit for. If one set of images required digital upgrading, what about the hundreds of others showcased as evidence of transformative representation?

Yayi has long positioned himself as a prolific facilitator of roads, schools, health centres, markets, transformers, and more across Ogun West and beyond, citing hundreds of interventions. Yet this is not the first time questions have arisen about how those projects are presented. Civic groups and political rivals have previously accused him of personalizing federal budget-funded constituency projects, branding government allocations as personal “gifts” or birthday empowerments. Transformers distributed as personal largesse were alleged to have come from national budget lines. Similar patterns of reclaiming or rebranding public works have drawn protests from groups in Yewa and elsewhere.

The current AI controversy compounds an existing pattern of contested claims. Ogun voters are entitled to demand verification: independent audits of project status, original unedited photographs, contractor details, budget codes, and on-site inspections. Digital polishing of public infrastructure images does not build roads, classrooms, or clinics. It builds suspicion.

Yayi’s political history adds further context to the “outsider” charge. He built his career representing Lagos constituencies for years before shifting to Ogun West. While he asserts ancestral ties to Yewa lineages, opponents continue to frame him as a Lagos import whose primary stake and political base remain outside the state. Ogun people have repeatedly insisted on leadership rooted in the communities that will live with the consequences “Ogun for Ogun.” Facilitating projects while simultaneously polishing their appearance with AI tools does little to dispel the perception of distance from everyday realities on the ground.

Nigeria does not need a government of 419 aesthetics, where appearance is upgraded by algorithm while delivery remains contested. The people of Ogun deserve transparent accounting, not curated feeds. Every project Yayi has posted deserves the same forensic attention now being applied to the latest images: what was budgeted, what was actually constructed, and what was merely enhanced for the camera or the algorithm.

Adeola should face the full weight of this scrutiny rather than expect Ogun voters to accept digitally upgraded claims at face value. Real stake, real delivery, and real accountability matter more than any AI filter. Ogun will not be deceived by pictures that look better than the projects themselves.

OGUN IS NOT FOR SALE: WHY YAYI CAN'T BE TRUSTED WITH OUR STATE

By Segun Alade


Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly called Yayi, has spent his entire political life as a Lagos politician. That single fact should settle the question of whether he can be trusted to govern Ogun State, it does not. Too many of our people are still willing to hand him the governorship as if the years he spent building power, loyalty, and networks in Lagos somehow evaporate the moment he crosses the border, they do not.

Yayi’s political identity was forged in Lagos and he was never from Yewa as he claimed to be, a matter for another day. His rise, his structures, his financiers, and his operating style were shaped Lagos. When a man who has operated for decades as a Lagos politician suddenly presents himself as the solution for Ogun, the only rational response is suspicion. Power follows loyalty, resources follow control, and control, in this case, will not remain in the hands of Ogun indigenes.

The danger is already visible. The ongoing silent struggle over motor parks, garages, and transport unions is not abstract politics. These are multi-billion naira assets. The emerging picture shows elements loyal to Yayi, many with Lagos roots, positioning themselves to dominate those structures. The men who bankrolled and supported his campaigns are the same men expected to harvest the rewards. That is not speculation. It is the standard pattern of Nigerian politics. When the financiers are outsiders or long-term Lagos operators, the estates, the unions, and the revenue streams follow them. Ogun’s transport economy risks becoming another extension of external interests.

Look at the birthday celebration organised in his absence at Empire Ground, Ilaro. Bonafide indigenes and traditional chiefs from Yewa and across Ogun State were pushed to the back rows while non-indigenes and outsiders occupied the front seats. That seating arrangement was not an accident of protocol. It was a public statement of hierarchy. In that moment, the message was clear: those who truly belong were secondary to those who arrived with the candidate. If that is how the hierarchy already operates before he even holds executive power, what happens when the full machinery of the state is under his control?

Ogun State does not need another governor whose primary political family and network sit outside its borders. It does not need a situation in which key decisions about our resources are filtered through Lagos loyalties or through a circle of Ekiti associates, including influential figures such as Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele and others in that orbit. When the inner circle is dominated by people whose political stakes and personal networks are not rooted in Ogun, the state’s interests become secondary. That is not inclusive governance. That is capture.

Those who are busy selling this project for temporary advantage should be deeply ashamed. They are trading the birthright of an entire state for a plate of morsel. History is unkind to people who make that bargain. The rest of us must refuse to be spectators.

The only coherent response is clear and uncompromising: Ogun for Ogun. Support and vote for credible, bonafide indigene candidates who have genuine stakes in this state, regardless of their of their zones. Demand leaders whose political lives, networks, businesses and loyalties were built here. Reject the outsider project dressed up as progress.

Yayi’s record is not neutral. It is the record of a Lagos politician seeking to expand his influence into Ogun. That expansion will not be cost-free for the people who actually live here, own land here, raise families here, and depend on the state’s resources. The motor parks battle, the seating arrangement in Ilaro, and the composition of the networks around him are early warnings. Ignore them at our collective peril.

Ogun State belongs to its people. It is not a franchise to be managed from outside. To the people of Ogun, wake up, vote accordingly. Ogun is for Ogun.

YAYI EXPOSED: Fake Ilaro Roots, Court Bombshell & Chiefs’ Snub Threaten His Ogun 2027 Dream

By A.R. Olanrewaju

The political ground in Ogun State is shifting violently under the feet of Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly called Yayi. Long before the 2027 governorship campaign proper kicks off, a perfect storm of identity scandal, legal landmines, elite betrayal and grassroots revolt is already dashing the hopes of the man who thought he could parachute from Lagos politics straight into Oke-Mosan.

What was once whispered in corners has exploded into open online warfare and street talk: Yayi is not from Pahayi, Ilaro as he and his handlers loudly claim. Persistent allegations place his true origins in Ekiti State, with reports that his late father was buried there.
Multiple voices across social media and local circles keep pointing to shifting stories of ancestry, from one community to another while demanding the simple proof that never fully materialises: a clear family compound, living relatives who can stand publicly and say “this is our son from here,” and an unbroken history free of contradictions. The controversy, first stirred years ago and revived with force ahead of 2027, has turned into a raging debate that refuses to die. Traditional affirmations from some quarters have not silenced the questions; instead, they have fuelled more scepticism among ordinary Ogun people who refuse to hand the governorship to a man whose roots keep looking borrowed.

That identity cloud is only the beginning. Abayomi Hunye is locked in a serious legal battle against the process that produced Yayi as APC candidate. Having paid the heavy nomination fee, been screened and cleared, Hunye insists the primary was riddled with irregularities, including the shocking zero votes recorded against his name despite his participation. The matter is in court. Until the judges speak, Yayi’s ticket sits under a dark legal cloud that could still explode and leave the APC scrambling.

Meanwhile, the powerful Egba bloc has already begun aligning behind Ladi Adebutu. The PDP flagbearer is no longer the distant challenger of previous cycles. With Iyabo Obasanjo back in the PDP and contesting the Ogun Central senatorial seat on the same ticket, the synergy is real and growing. Egba traditionalists, community leaders and political networks are increasingly open to Adebutu’s message of genuine local ownership. The contrast could not be sharper: one candidate whose maternal claims are still debated, versus a home-grown contender with deep, unquestioned Ogun roots and rising daily popularity.

Inside the APC itself, the wounds are self-inflicted. The party’s refusal to hand Senate tickets to heavyweight leaders such as former Governor Ibikunle Amosun and Otunba Gbenga Daniel has created simmering resentment. Their camps remain formidable vote banks across Ogun. Expecting those structures to work tirelessly for a ticket that shut their principals out is political fantasy. That internal fracture will exact a heavy price when the real campaign begins.

Add to this the clear fatigue with APC governance. The recent Osun governorship election delivered a stinging reminder: voters are no longer automatic supporters of the ruling party at federal or state level. Ademola Adeleke’s victory over the APC candidate showed that anti-incumbency is real and potent. Ogun people are watching the same patterns of hardship and under-delivery and drawing their own conclusions.

Nowhere is the alienation more visible than in the lingering bitterness over Yayi’s 57th birthday celebration at Empire Field, Ilaro. Reports and eyewitness accounts circulating among Yewa stakeholders describe the front rows filled with unfamiliar faces from Lagos, political associates and “strangers” from his long years in the Lagos House of Assembly, House of Representatives and Senate, while bonafide indigenes, chiefs and community leaders were relegated to the back. For many who had earlier extended support, the optics were damning: a man who needs Yewa votes treating the real sons of the soil as afterthoughts. Some chiefs and influencers are already privately expressing regret, convinced they are being used and will later be discarded. The fear that a Yayi government would be dominated by Lagos networks rather than Ogun people is no longer fringe talk; it has become mainstream anxiety within the APC itself.

All of this has crystallised into a powerful new rallying cry spreading like wildfire across Ogun: “Ogun for Ogun.” The slogan captures a simple, emotional demand, no foreigner, no imported candidate, no man whose origin remains a subject of endless controversy should sit as governor when a qualified, authentic son of the state stands ready. That son is Ladi Adebutu. Every fresh question about Yayi’s roots pushes more undecided voters toward the PDP contender. The identity debate has already shifted the conversation from “who has the money and federal connection” to “who truly belongs here.”

The governorship campaign has not even formally begun, yet Yayi and the APC are already staring at a mountain of problems. Legal uncertainty, elite disaffection, grassroots resentment, anti-incumbency winds and a surging Ladi Adebutu armed with the “Ogun for Ogun” message have combined into a toxic mix. What looked like a smooth coronation is rapidly turning into a desperate salvage operation.

Is this the beginning of the end of Solomon Olamilekan Adeola Yayi’s governorship ambition? The signs on the ground say yes. Ogun people are waking up. And they are choosing one of their own.

DAPO ABIODUN'S EPIC FLOP: OGD DEMOLISHES GOVERNOR'S SUSPENSION SCAM IN ABUJA SHOWDOWN – DESPERATE MEDIA AIDES AND DATA BOYS LEFT RED-FACED AND REELING!

By A.R. Olanrewaju


As an astute observer of Ogun's volatile political landscape, the ongoing feud in Ogun State between Governor Dapo Abiodun and Senator Otunba Gbenga Daniel (OGD) offers a riveting spectacle of ambition, betrayal, and inevitable downfall. Yesterday's events, December 18, 2025, at the APC National Caucus meeting in Aso Rock Villa delivered a dramatic twist, with OGD striding confidently among the party's titans, including President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, and a cadre of governors, senators, and stakeholders. This wasn't just a routine gathering; it was a high-stakes affirmation of OGD's unshakeable position within the APC, shattering the illusions spun by Abiodun's camp and setting the stage for a 2027 showdown that promises to be nothing short of explosive.

Picture the scene: Amid deliberations on the party's future, OGD's presence, captured in viral photos alongside figures like Delta Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, served as a bold counterpunch to the governor's smear tactics. For months, Abiodun's loyalists, those shadowy data boys and media aides operating from digital trenches, have flooded social media with tales of OGD's suspension from Sagamu Ward 12. Allegations of anti-party activities during a by-election, ignored disciplinary hearings, and even denials of his membership were ratified by the Ogun APC chapter, all under Abiodun's watchful eye. These moves, defiant of the national party's constitution, reek of desperation, a governor weaponizing state resources to bulldoze rivals, including demolishing OGD-linked projects in Ogun East to force a political retreat or defection to the PDP.

But hold your breath for the suspenseful revelation: The APC's National Working Committee (NWC) has repeatedly slammed this farce, affirming OGD as a "bona fide member" and ordering the state chapter to stand down. Despite local defiance from ward executives like Adebayo Ismail, who bizarrely claim the NWC oversteps, this national backing exposes Abiodun's plot as a house of cards. The governor's ambitions for the Ogun East senatorial seat in 2027 drive this chaos; with his term ending, he's clearing the path by any means, spreading defection rumors while ignoring OGD's firm denials and loyalty pledges. It's a strategy straight out of a thriller novel, intimidation, fabrication, and division, but one doomed to backfire spectacularly.

From my vantage point, OGD's approach is a lesson in masterful restraint and foresight. Instead of descending into mudslinging, he's amplified his grassroots legacy, reminding Ogun East voters of his infrastructure triumphs as former governor. His critiques of Abiodun's "intolerant" governance hit home, portraying the governor as a petty autocrat more fixated on vendettas than progress. By aligning visibly with APC heavyweights at the caucus, OGD cements himself as indispensable, eroding Abiodun's grip from within. The excitement mounts: Will Abiodun's minions escalate their digital assaults, only to face further humiliation? Or will internal rifts force a humiliating climbdown?

Make no mistake, this is Abiodun's empire crumbling in real time. His media aides and data boys, those anonymous purveyors of fake news, will be left exposed and irrelevant, their lies evaporating as electorates awaken to the self-serving agenda. The governor's broader missteps, like meddling in traditional affairs amid political intrigue, only heighten his vulnerabilities, painting him as a leader out of touch and overreaching. Come 2027, OGD is poised to snatch the APC ticket and cruise to reelection in a landslide, delivering a crushing defeat that consigns Abiodun and his allies to political obscurity. The disgrace will be total: schemes unraveled, ambitions dashed, and a stark reminder that in Nigerian politics, overplaying your hand invites epic failure. Ogun East, the tide is turning, stay riveted, for the climax promises fireworks that will echo far beyond the state.