Like Tinubu, Ogun APC Candidate Solomon Adeola, YAYI Enmeshed in Identity Controversy

Questions over identity, ancestry and personal history have once again entered Nigeria’s political conversation, with the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in Ogun State, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as YAYI, becoming the latest politician caught in an identity controversy.

The controversy bears striking similarities to the questions that dogged President Bola Tinubu before and during the 2023 presidential election, when his age, educational records, certificates and personal history became subjects of intense political and legal scrutiny.

In Adeola’s case, however, the latest controversy is centred principally on his ancestry and alleged original identity.

Wale Adedayo, a former chairman of Ijebu East Local Government Area, has alleged that Adeola was originally known as Sulaimon Ogunleye and hailed from Ekiti State, rather than Ogun State.

Adedayo made the allegation during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he also predicted that the APC would suffer major defeats in the 2027 governorship and legislative elections in Ogun 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 alleged.

He challenged Adeola to prove his ancestry, claiming that the senator had no roots in Ogun State.

“He doesn’t have any root in Ogun State, and that is one of the things we talk about that as much as possible, we should not encourage fraudulent claims,” Adedayo said.

According to him, there was nothing wrong with a person who had lived outside Ogun returning to contest an election in the state, but he objected to what he described as the use of money or political influence to manufacture an ancestral connection.

“There is nothing wrong with people living in Lagos State coming back home to contest, but people using pecuniary means to claim ancestry is fraudulent,” he added.

The Tinubu Parallel

The Adeola controversy is reminiscent of the identity-related disputes that surrounded Tinubu’s presidential ambition.

During the 2023 presidential election, Tinubu faced questions from political opponents and members of the public over his age, educational background, certificates, citizenship and personal history.

One of the most prominent episodes involved Chicago State University in the United States, where Tinubu was said to have studied.

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s legal team obtained access to records from the university in connection with the legal challenge to Tinubu’s election. The controversy included questions about the authenticity of a diploma submitted to Nigeria’s electoral commission. The university’s registrar confirmed that the institution had an original academic record for a Bola Tinubu but said he could not authenticate a particular diploma because the document was not in the university’s possession. Tinubu’s representatives rejected the forgery allegations.

The controversy was not limited to certificates. Questions over Tinubu’s identity and background became a recurring feature of the political debate surrounding his presidential candidacy.

That is what makes the latest controversy involving Adeola politically significant.

In both cases, the debate goes beyond policies, competence or political ideology and enters the more personal territory of who exactly the candidate is, where he comes from and whether the public account of his background can withstand scrutiny.

But there is also an important difference.

While the Tinubu controversy involved questions around several aspects of his personal and educational history, the allegation against Adeola is specifically about his ancestry and the identity under which he has built his political career.

YAYI’s Own Account

Adeola’s publicly available biography says he was born on August 10, 1969, at Lagos Island Maternity Hospital to Ayinde and Abeeni Ogunleye. It states that he grew up in Alimosho and attended State Primary School, Alimosho, and Community Grammar School, Akowonjo.

The senator has also previously spoken publicly about his Ogun roots.

In an earlier statement, Adeola described himself as being from Ogun State of mixed parentage, saying his father hailed from Ago-Isaga, Pahayi, Ilaro, in Yewa South Local Government Area, while his mother came from the Kemta-Odutolu family in Abeokuta.

“I am from Ogun State of mixed parentage across two Senatorial Districts of Ogun West and Ogun Central,” he said.

The question of his ancestry is therefore not new.

In 2019, descendants of Isaga communities in Ogun State publicly defended Adeola against accusations that he was a “foreigner”, insisting that he was a bona fide son of Isaga and Yewaland.

The group said Adeola’s paternal ancestry could be traced to Isaga-Orile and Ago-Isaga in the present-day Ogun State.

Adeola himself, responding to the controversy at the time, said he had never been confused about his ancestry and had never claimed a community other than his ancestral home.

“I have never claimed another community aside my town, Isaga Pahayi,” he was quoted as saying.

Adedayo Predicts APC Defeat

Beyond the identity allegation, Adedayo predicted a major political upset for the APC in Ogun State in 2027.

He said President Tinubu could win the presidential election in the state but argued that the APC would lose the governorship, senatorial and House of Representatives contests.

“The President will have his way in Ogun State, but when it comes to the governorship, senatorial and house of elections, it is a different ball game in Ogun State,” he said.

Adedayo described the expected changes as “seismic”, predicting that they would affect all 20 local government areas of the state.

“There is going to be a seismic change in all the 20 local governments, but it is not going to be a battleground where people will kill themselves,” he said.