Ogun 2027: Yayi Yewa Ancestry Controversy Deepens as Legal Battle Looms
The controversy over Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola’s ancestral roots has taken a new turn ahead of the 2027 Ogun State governorship election, with a former Nigerian diplomat demanding a public debate while the senator threatens legal action over claims questioning his Yewa origin.
Former Nigerian Ambassador to Zambia and Malawi, Folake Marcus-Bello, has challenged Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, to publicly defend his claim to Yewa ancestry, saying she possesses documents which she believes contradict his position.
Adeola, who represents Ogun West Senatorial District and is the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate for the 2027 election, has rejected the allegations, describing statements concerning his origin and family as false and potentially defamatory.
The dispute has introduced another dimension into Ogun’s emerging 2027 political contest, where questions of zoning, ancestry and representation are already attracting attention.
Speaking during a live television programme, Marcus-Bello, a former Ogun State Commissioner for Women Affairs, alleged that Adeola was not originally from Yewa.
She said she was prepared to confront the senator with documents she claimed contained information about his family history.
Among the materials she referenced was the programme for the burial of Adeola’s father, which she said contained information about his Oriki and progeny.
Marcus-Bello consequently challenged the senator to sit with her publicly while both sides presented their evidence.
The former diplomat linked the controversy to the longstanding political aspiration of Ogun West, arguing that the zone should be represented by someone whose Yewa ancestry, in her view, is not disputed.
She also drew attention to Adeola’s political history in Lagos, where he built a significant part of his political career before moving to Ogun West.
Adeola has, however, strongly rejected the allegations.
In a statement issued by his Media Adviser, Kayode Odunaro, the senator threatened legal action against Marcus-Bello and Abayomi Hunye over statements allegedly made about his origin and family.
Adeola challenged those questioning his ancestry to publicly produce evidence supporting their claims within 24 hours or prepare to defend the allegations in court.
The senator maintained that similar questions about his origin had surfaced previously and argued that the renewed controversy was connected to the politics surrounding the 2027 Ogun governorship election.
Adeola represented Lagos constituencies for several years before moving to Ogun politics.
He served in the Lagos State House of Assembly before representing Alimosho Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives. He later represented Lagos West in the Senate before contesting and winning the Ogun West senatorial election in 2023.
His political journey between Lagos and Ogun has remained part of the debate surrounding his ancestry, although a political career in another state does not, by itself, establish or disprove a person’s ancestral origin.
The latest dispute is therefore centred on competing claims that may require documentary or other verifiable evidence to resolve.
The controversy has become particularly significant because Ogun West, also known as Yewa-Awori, has long sought to produce a governor of the state.
Marcus-Bello argues that the zone’s aspiration makes the question of the ancestry of anyone seeking to represent it politically important.
Adeola and his supporters, on the other hand, have consistently maintained that he has ancestral links to Yewaland and have rejected attempts to portray him as an outsider.
The disagreement may now move beyond television interviews and political statements following Adeola’s threat of legal action.
Hunye has since welcomed the prospect of litigation, saying he is prepared to present what he described as documentary evidence in court.
With the 2027 governorship contest gathering momentum, the controversy means the debate surrounding Adeola’s ancestry is unlikely to disappear quickly, particularly if the threatened legal action proceeds.
For now, Marcus-Bello’s assertions about Adeola’s ancestry remain allegations disputed by the senator, while Adeola’s demand for evidence has raised the possibility that the competing claims could eventually face judicial scrutiny.
