The 2027 governorship race in Ogun State has taken a fresh turn following a challenge by a former Nigerian Ambassador to Zambia and Malawi, Folake Marcus-Bello, to the ancestry of the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate, Senator Solomon Adeola, popularly known as Yayi.
Marcus-Bello, a former Commissioner for Women Affairs in the state, disputed Adeola’s claim to Yewa ancestry during a live television programme, insisting that documents in her possession could support her position.
She alleged that Adeola’s political career was largely built in Lagos before he shifted his governorship ambition to Ogun West, while also citing the backgrounds of his parents and the locations of their burials in support of her argument.
The former diplomat said the 2027 election should not be treated as an unrestricted contest, arguing that the governorship of the state ought to be contested by people who could establish their indigenous roots in Ogun.
She said, “The local politics of Ogun State is reserved for the indigenes of Ogun State. It is not an all-comers game. Ogun State is peculiar. We are semi-rural. We are not Lagos where people come and claim all sorts of things.”
Marcus-Bello maintained that Yewa people deserved the opportunity to produce the next governor, having allegedly not occupied the position since the creation of the state, but insisted that the candidate must be a “genuine son or daughter of the soil.”
She said, “If what you have stated is true, Yewa has a better chance to produce a governor because they have never produced one. But give us—and I am speaking authoritatively also on behalf of Hon. Ladi Adebutu—a real son or daughter of Yewa and we will support that daughter or son of Yewa.”
Challenging Adeola to a public debate, Marcus-Bello claimed that she possessed historical documents capable of challenging his account of his ancestry, including a programme of events from his father’s burial in Ekiti State.
She said, “Let him come and sit in front of me. We would bring the documentation that I have—the programme of events of his father’s burial in Ekiti State with his Oriki and his progeny. His Oriki is in his father’s burial programme. Let him come and prove otherwise.”
The former ambassador also accused the APC of abusing its political influence and referred to a book containing allegations against Adeola, calling on the senator and his supporters to respond to the issues raised.
However, the claims about Adeola’s ancestry were made by Marcus-Bello during the television programme and have not been independently verified.
With political activities ahead of the 2027 election gathering momentum, the controversy has introduced ancestry and indigeneity into the emerging battle over who succeeds Governor Dapo Abiodun, particularly in relation to the long-running demand for Ogun West to produce the next governor.
