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 indigeneship. 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 a 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 about the 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 the 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.
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