A political pressure under the aegis of Ogun West Concerned Stakeholders have kicked against Solomon Adeola emergence as governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) from the zone ahead of the 2027 poll
Penpushing reports that at a press conference held on Thursday at Tetede hall, Ilaro headquarters of the Ogun West Senatorial District, the group demanded that only candidates with verifiable local roots and a proven track record of community service be considered to represent the region.
The group led by Hakeem Adetunji described Adeola popularly called Yayi him as imported Senator, and equally raised questions concerning his indigenship, and his opposed contributions to Yewa’s victory in the past elections.
Penpushing further reports that the stakeholders accused Yayi of sabotaging Yewa governorship victory in 2019 when the region has a sole candidate, alleging that he was nowhere to be found, or identified with them as an indigene of Yewa in 2011.
The stakeholders described Yayi’s candidacy as affront and insult to the original indigenes of the zone emphasizing that posterity will judge and future generation shall ask questions
“We are here to rewrite our story because, over time, we’ve heard people around calling us bastards because some of us do not support the aspiration of Senator Olamilekan Yayi, who happens to be contesting for Ogun State Governor’, he stated.
“Yes, we do not support him for a very clear reason. As a person, I challenged those people supporting him and those people calling us bastards that in 2011, when the late Olurin was actually contesting to the governorship in Ogun State, we did not see Senator Olamilekan Yayi around’, Olatunji added.
‘He was never in our history, nor in our story. The same thing in 2015, when GNI was actually contesting as Ogun State Governor, we did not see the record or the activities of Senator Yayi in our story or in our journey’, he stressed
‘Now, I’ve mentioned two political seasons. Now to talk about 2019 and 2023, of course, Yayi was around those two periods. What exactly was his contribution? In 2019, he fought against the success of Ogun West. He stood against this land he claimed to have come from, even when we know clearly that he’s never one of us’, Olatunji added
Penpushing also reports that Olatunji highlighted Yayi’s roles in sabotaging true Yewa ambition for the purpose of personal gain, stating that he deliberately worked against Biyi Otegbeye so as to promote his own personal ambition.
“The same thing repeated itself in 2023 when we had something very unprecedented in the political history of Ogun West—that we had just a single candidate from Ogun West contesting as Ogun State Governor’.
‘I am talking about Biyi Otegbeye. This Senator Yayi stood against him. He threw his influence, his resources, his network into ensuring that the vision, the journey, did not see the light of day’. Olatunji added
“Today, you are telling people like us to forget where we are coming from, to forget our history. No, which I will not. But that is even not enough reason why some of us are actually agitating that we will not support him’.
‘The clear reason this time around is the fact that he does not share any historical background with us. He did not really share our history, nor our journey with us. So, how do you expect some of us to align with the vision or the aspiration of such a man? It is not possible”.
“Therefore, some of us have been able to identify the aspiration of Honorable Oladipupo Adebutu. Some of us have been able to identify him as one of us”, Olatunji emphasized
Penpushing reports that in similar vein, Adeshola Hakeem expressed deep concern over Yayi, arguing that he suddenly claims ties to Ogun West during election cycles without having any tangible family background or history of investment in the local community, accusing him of abandoning the region in past elections, only to return to seek the governorship for 2027.
“I don’t believe in somebody just coming around for a few years, come around here, and tell us you are from here. We have not actually seen any antecedents here. We have not seen any impact you have been doing for several years here. We have not seen anything you have actually contributed even to Ogun State itself’, Hakeem said
Penpushing further reports that a community leader, Olabisi Ogundare, in his submission declared her unwavering support for governorship candidate of Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) Ladi Adebutu .
The community leader and member of Ward 1 in Ilaro, Yewa South Local Government of the state argued that, Yayi’s local lineage is not traceable to any family, and expressed deep skepticism in what he described as sudden emergence of Yayi
“This person they say is from Ogun West, I don’t know him because we don’t know him before. I as a person from Ward 1 in Ilaro, I don’t know him before. He can’t be an indigene, I don’t know, but we know Lado.”
Penpushing also reports that the body, however, jointly declared support for Ladi Adenutu, governorship candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), pointing out that his (Adebutu) citizenship is not questionable having being established that his origin is traced to Ogun state
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