*The race to emerge as Dapo Abiodun’s successor is heating up
By Amos Adegbite
In October of this year, a billboard appeared along Abiola Way in Abeokuta, purportedly sponsored by Senator Iyabo Obasanjo, announcing her interest in contesting for a political office in Ogun State in 2027. The message was notably vague, specifying neither the office she seeks nor the political party under which she would run.
The daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo has been absent from the state’s political scene for a long time; her last political engagement was as a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Her long absence raises questions about her current party affiliation, making it easy to dismiss the billboard as a mere tactic by politicians, particularly from Ogun Central, to draft her into the gubernatorial race.
However, the senator’s deft silence and failure to disassociate herself from the billboard’s message should be interrogated by discerning observers.
What was most striking was the billboard’s content. It simply stated: “In Ogun State, We know ourselves, Senator Prof Iyabo Obasanjo, Omo wa ni, Eniyan wa ni, Ara wa ni.” This literally translates to, “She is one of us, she is our daughter.” By vouching for her indigeneship, the sponsors of the advertisement are subtly alluding to the fact that other potential contenders for the governorship have questionable roots within the state. This is poised to become a central controversy as the 2027 election gathers momentum.
Political observers in Ogun State need not guess whom this message targets. It directly references the longstanding controversy surrounding the indigene status of the senator representing Ogun West, Senator Adeola Solomon, popularly known as Yayi. Senator Adeola began his political career in Alimosho, Lagos State, as a protégé of former APC chieftain Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, and he leveraged this base to win seats in the State House of Assembly, the House of Representatives, and the Senate.
To fulfill his gubernatorial ambition, he formally changed his state of origin from Lagos to Ogun State and successfully contested for the Ogun West Senatorial seat in the 2023 election. Despite perfecting his documents with affidavits to be officially recognised as an indigene, his critics and opponents remain adamant. They insist that an individual from Ekiti state should never be allowed to become the governor of Ogun State, a contention that this new billboard seems strategically designed to amplify.
His supporters are working tirelessly to establish his family roots in Ilaro, explaining that his parents relocated to Lagos for better opportunities, where he was born, raised, and launched his political career.
However, a coronet in Yewa land once captured the prevailing sentiment with a rhetorical question: “What do you expect our people to do? A rich and influential politician comes to you claiming to be your kinsman, will you denounce him when you know what he can do for your community?”
Indeed, the entry of Yayi into Ogun West politics has dramatically altered the political landscape. As a zone that has never produced a governor or a politician of comparable financial muscle, Ogun West has felt the impact of his deep pockets. As Chairman of the Senate Appropriation Committee, he has attracted numerous federal projects and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) initiatives to the area. His generosity to individuals and communities who pledge support for his gubernatorial ambition has been notable.
He is a popular figure in many palaces of Ogun West, known for making traditional rulers smile with his largesse. Some politicians from the zone view him as their “messiah” and have fully aligned with his ambition, to the extent of proclaiming that “only Yayi will contest the governorship election in Ogun West in 2027.” Their belief is absolute: in politics, “what money cannot do, more money will do it.”
The impact of transactional politics, a system built on the direct exchange of goods and services for political support, is palpable here. The confidence among his aides is so high that they openly assert that even the sitting governor cannot prevent him from clinching the APC ticket, despite the party’s constitution recognising the governor as its leader in the state.
This raises a critical question: If some leaders in Ogun West are prepared to “sell” their zone’s gubernatorial slot to an adopted son, will the other senatorial districts fall for this transactional politics? Ogun electorates are politically sophisticated, and the state’s complex political web has never caved in to the highest bidder.
In response to this aberration, political movements in Ogun Central and East are mobilising to challenge what they see as the selling of patrimonial rights for a “plate of porridge.” They are pushing back against the sense of entitlement from Ogun West, which argues it is “their turn” to produce the governor after being marginalised since 1976.
Consequently, many top politicians from the Egba, Ijebu, and Remo regions are now surfacing as potential candidates, ready to contest if Ogun West insists on presenting their adopted son as their best. These opponents are not willing to take the chance of allowing an “adopted son in the palace to be crowned king.”
There is no doubt that fairness, equity and political stability will suggest that the APC should concede the gubernatorial ticket to Ogun West in this electoral season. The senatorial district is not lacking in credible, competent, trusted politicians who have demonstrated remarkable capacity over time. Trusted and tested figures such as the Deputy Governor, Noimot Salako; Senator Tolu Odebiyi, Hon. Abiodun Isiaq Akinlade, Hon. Gboyega Isiaka, Chief Biyi Otegbeye and Hon. Kunle Akinlade among others, must rise to defend their zone against political marauders.
The elders of Ogun West, guided by conscience, should not stand by aimlessly until outsiders are forced to tell them the truth and make decisions that will ultimately work against the zone’s long-term interests.
*Adegbite, a public affairs analyst writes from Abeokuta, Ogun State.
