Senator Adeola Yayi Ogun West Declaration: No Crisis In Ogun APC

The office of Senator Solomon Adeola, a.k.a Yayi, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, said that their attention has been drawn to an online feature story written by one Ishola Oludare in the “Daily Post” of April 8, 2022. 

The Senator would not ordinarily join issue with a sponsored and slanted ‘opinion’ from a reputed acolyte of a failed Governorship candidate to douse the rousing welcome and enthusiasm of the people of Ogun West for the declaration of Senator Adeola to contest for the seat of Ogun West Senatorial seat in the 2023 general election.

However, when the said article is now being circulated as gospel truth and reviewed as a news item by a popular broadcast medium in Abeokuta, it becomes apt to correct the misinformation intended in the concocted feature story. 

For the records, Senator Adeola as an indigene of Ogun West, is not new to Ogun State and indeed All Progressives Congress, APC, in the State even while serving as a legislator in Lagos State. As a true progressive politician with a record of not jumping political ship like some notable politicians, he was a foundation member of APC and would always work for the success of the party at all levels of government and across Nigeria. His record for supporting party positions in government are in public domain with his service as an electoral umpire at the recent National Convention of APC. 

His foray into Ogun State politics dates back to 2012 when he widely consulted on the possibility of contesting for Ogun West Senatorial District as a way of shoring up the waning progressive spirit and making direct impact on his people. It is on record that in that quest, he fully supported the ambition Senator Ibikunle Amosun for second term through massive mobilization, erection of billboards and other publicity blitz costing multi-million naira. That quest was never in vain as Senator Amosun went on to win the 2015 while in a divinely arranged circumstance, Senator Adeola became the Senator of the largest senatorial district in Nigeria in terms of population. 

His performance in that position for 6 years and counting, has now made his people from Ogun West to earnestly seek his representation at the Red Chamber of the National Assembly ruing that his massive developmental initiatives in the 10 LGAs of Lagos West would have been their portion in just 5 LGAs if he had contested in 2015. This feeling was not restricted to only APC members but across board among traditional rulers and socio-political groups. 

This was what culminated to the declaration at Ilaro on April 6, 2022, when APC members under the West to West for Dapo Abiodun (W2W4DA) Convergence held their grand finale mammoth rally endorsing Prince Dapo Abiodun for Second Term and calling of Senator Adeola to pitch his tent with them in 2023 for Ogun West Senatorial District.  

Fully convinced and prepared this time around, having relocated his party membership and INEC registration to Ogun State, Senator Adeola not only accepted the call from notable leaders and masses of APC under (W2W4DA) Convergence but went further to throw his weight behind the second term ambition of Prince Abiodun just as he did as a true party man for Senator Amosun towards his 2015 re-election bid even while serving as a Lagos State legislator.

 So, there is no crisis in Ogun APC as the writer of “Daily Post” wrongly posited. The crisis, if any, is within the camp of few politicians afraid of keen democratic contest that the entrance of Senator Adeola, a grassroot and people-oriented politician, portends in the nearest future. This was what I had described as “Yayiphobia” in the past to mean a condition of morbid fear of some lily-livered politicians in confronting the penetrating reach of Senator Adeola among the leaders and masses of Ogun West and preferring his exclusion from the race altogether as the only option for realizing their electoral dream.  

That condition is their crisis and not that of Ogun APC. Senator Adeola is legally and legitimately contesting the 2023 Ogun West Senatorial District race with any other aspirants or candidates and will allow the people decide who represents them in the highest legislative body in Nigeria. 

All those sponsoring write-ups for exclusion of Senator Adeola from Ogun West race are directed to read the relevant parts of the Constitution on freedom of association and movement in Nigeria as well as other extant laws and regulations.