‘Give Us A Real Yewa Son Or Daughter, We’ll Support Them’
…Challenges APC candidate to prove Yewa ancestry, says Ogun governorship is not ‘an all-comers game’
Daud Olatunji
Former Nigerian Ambassador to Zambia and Malawi, Ambassador Folake Marcus-Bello, has reignited the controversy over the ancestry of the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate for Ogun State, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, declaring that she possesses documents which, according to her, contradict his claim of Yewa origin.
Marcus-Bello, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party and South-West women leader of the party, made the declaration during a live television programme on Monday while discussing the political contest ahead of the 2027 Ogun State governorship election.
The former diplomat emphatically rejected Adeola’s claim to Yewa ancestry, saying the issue was fundamental to the debate over who should succeed Governor Dapo Abiodun in 2027.
“Senator Olamilekan is not from Yewa. He is not from Yewa,” Marcus-Bello declared.
She, however, insisted that her position should not be interpreted as opposition to the aspiration of Yewa people to produce the next governor of Ogun State.
According to her, what she objects to is what she described as a disputed claim of Yewa origin.
“If what you have stated is true, Yewa has a better chance to produce a governor because they have never produced one,” she said.
“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. Let us get it clear.”
Marcus-Bello said she was prepared to confront the controversy with documentary evidence, challenging Adeola to appear before her so that the documents she referenced could be examined.
“Let him come and sit in front of me. We would bring the documentation that I have—the programme of event of his father’s burial with his Oriki and his progeny,” she said.
“His Oriki is in his father’s burial programme. Let him come and prove otherwise.”
The PDP chieftain alleged that Adeola’s early career and political activities were strongly associated with Lagos State before his emergence as a major political figure in Ogun State.
She claimed that the APC candidate had previously identified with Lagos and benefited politically from representing the state before subsequently moving his political ambition to Ogun West.
Marcus-Bello further alleged that Adeola’s family roots were outside Yewa, making references to his father’s background and his mother’s burial in Epe.
However, those claims were presented by her as part of her argument over Adeola’s ancestry and were not independently established in the material made available to PLATFORM TIMES.
The former ambassador said the controversy should not be dismissed as a personal disagreement between politicians, arguing that the question of indigene status had wider implications for Ogun State’s political leadership.
“This one concerns the whole of Ogun State,” she said.
She argued that Ogun State had its own peculiar political and demographic characteristics and should not be treated in the same manner as Lagos State.
“The local politics of Ogun State is reserved for the indigenes of Ogun State. It is not an all-comers game,” Marcus-Bello said.
“Ogun State is peculiar. We are semi-rural. We are not Lagos where people come and claim all sorts of things.”
Marcus-Bello also questioned the circumstances surrounding Adeola’s emergence as the APC governorship candidate, disputing suggestions that former governors and the incumbent governor collectively selected him.
“They did not choose him. They didn’t have a proper primary. So many things are wrong with this candidate,” she alleged.
She also criticised the ruling party’s continued dominance of Nigeria’s political space, accusing political actors of prioritising power and relevance over accountability.
“APC lord it over all of us. They are lording it over all Nigerians. They enjoy power,” she said.
“It is very sad [that] leaders of opposition, because they want to be in power, would do anything to stay in power.”
The PDP chieftain also referred to what she described as corruption allegations against Adeola.
“We have a book containing allegations against him. I am putting the allegations forward; let his people come forward,” she said.
The controversy, however, has triggered a counter-narrative from Adeola’s supporters and media aides, who have rejected the former ambassador’s claim that the senator is not from Yewa.
They have maintained that Adeola is a son of Yewa and have pointed to his longstanding relationship with traditional institutions, political stakeholders and communities in Ogun West as evidence of his acceptance in the area.
The supporters have also cited the position of traditional authorities, particularly the Olu of Ilaro and Paramount Ruler of Yewaland, Oba Kehinde Olugbenle, who, among others, have publicly identified Adeola as a son of Yewa.
The monarch’s conferment of the traditional title of Aremo of Yewaland on Adeola has subsequently become a significant part of the argument by his supporters, who regard the honour as recognition of his connection with and acceptance by the Yewa traditional institution.
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