The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola Yayi, has issued a 24-hour ultimatum to two fellow APC aspirants to substantiate claims that he is originally from Ekiti State or face legal action.
Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, directed the challenge at Abayomi Hunye and Ambassador Folake Marcus-Bello, who separately questioned his claim to Ogun State origin during interviews on a national television station.
The senator made the demand in a statement signed by his Media Adviser, Chief Kayode Odunaro, amid a fresh dispute over his ancestry ahead of the 2027 Ogun State governorship election.
Adeola dismissed the allegations as unfounded and challenged both aspirants to produce evidence supporting their assertions.
“I watched in utter disbelief as these characters that I hardly know utter assertive and outrageous lies about my origin without any proof,” Adeola said.
He accused one of the politicians of claiming on television that he was from Ekiti but failing to identify the specific location when asked to do so.
He also took exception to comments concerning the burial places of his parents; he described the claims as another attempt to sustain what he called a false narrative about his background.
“The other one was lying about the locations of the graves of my parents as if she was part of the undertakers at the burial all in a futile effort to justify an unsustainable falsehood,” he said.
Adeola then issued his deadline.
“Enough is enough. They should produce their evidence in 24 hours or be ready for my lawsuits,” he stated.
The controversy centres on Adeola’s eligibility and political identity in Ogun, where questions over his state of origin have surfaced previously.
According to the senator, the allegation was first deployed as a political strategy aimed at frustrating his emergence as the representative of Ogun West Senatorial District.
That campaign, he said, did not prevent his election to the National Assembly in 2023, when he secured the Ogun West senatorial seat.
Adeola now contends that the same allegation has resurfaced because of his bid for the Ogun governorship in 2027.
He described the renewed claims as part of efforts to undermine his political prospects as the election approaches.
Rather than treating the origin controversy as settled, Adeola’s response has shifted the burden of the dispute towards evidence. His challenge requires Hunye and Marcus-Bello to produce verifiable material for their assertions or potentially confront a legal battle.
The senator’s position also places the issue beyond ordinary political exchanges. By setting a 24-hour deadline and threatening litigation, he has framed the allegations as claims that should either be substantiated or withdrawn.
The controversy is likely to attract further attention as political activities gather momentum ahead of the 2027 election.
Adeola’s response signals that the question of his ancestry will not be left unanswered as the APC’s internal contest develops. His demand is straightforward: produce evidence linking him to Ekiti State within the stated period or face him in court.
The allegations themselves, however, have not been independently established in the report, and the claims by Hunye and Marcus-Bello remain disputed by the senator.
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