ABEOKUTA – The Chairman of the Planning Committee of the Ogun State APC Presidential and Governorship Campaign Council, Hon. Kayode Oladele, has accused Mrs Folake Marcus-Bello of “moving the goalpost” in the political offensive against Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, saying the opposition had shifted from challenging the senator’s Ogun indigeneship to probing his employment history, old electoral records and finances.
Oladele said the changing line of attack reflected what he described as the PDP’s inability to match Adeola’s growing statewide appeal and grassroots political structure.
“The PDP is simply intimidated because it has been unable to match Yayi’s growing statewide appeal and grassroots structure. What began as an Ogun West aspiration has developed into a movement with networks across the three senatorial districts, reaching local governments, wards and communities. Rather than build a comparable structure, the opposition has made attacking Yayi the centrepiece of its campaign,” Oladele said.
He described Marcus-Bello’s latest demands as part of an “ever-changing political script” against Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, arguing that the earlier indigeneship narrative had, in his word, “hit a brick wall and failed to resonate with the electorate”.
“The goalpost keeps changing. Yesterday, the issue was that Yayi was not from Ogun State. Today, it is where he worked decades ago, what he wrote on an old INEC form and how he made his money. What will it be tomorrow?” he asked.
Oladele was reacting to comments by Marcus-Bello in which she challenged Adeola to produce records relating to his employment history and the INEC form he completed when he first contested for the Lagos State House of Assembly.
Marcus-Bello also questioned Adeola’s source of income and asked him to disclose his businesses outside public office.
Oladele said the changing focus of the allegations had itself become politically significant.
“Politics cannot be an endless fishing expedition in which a new allegation is introduced every time the previous one fails to resonate with the people.
“Ogun voters should take note of the pattern. The issue is no longer merely what Marcus-Bello is alleging; it is why the allegation keeps changing. Today it is ancestry, tomorrow employment, the next day an INEC form and now finances. At some point, those making these claims must stop moving the goalpost and start producing evidence,” he said.
Oladele further accused the opposition of allowing its attacks on Adeola to overshadow its own political message ahead of the 2027 election.
“If you ask them about Ladi Adebutu’s blueprint and what he intends to do differently for Ogun State, the conversation quickly returns to Yayi. Ask why Adebutu wants to be governor, and again the answer becomes Yayi. Ask about competing ideas, programmes and records, and somehow the discussion still comes back to Yayi.
“That tells you something about the political dilemma confronting them. Instead of defining their candidate by his own programme, they increasingly define him by his opposition to Yayi.
“Yayi is their political headache, and we understand why. They have to contend with a candidate whose projects, empowerment programmes, grassroots structure and political presence extend across the state. The proper response should be to present a competing record and persuade Ogun people that you can do better, not to make Yayi the subject of every political conversation.
“A governorship election should ultimately be a contest between competing visions for Ogun State. Tell the people what you will do, how you will do it and why your programme deserves their confidence.
“Senator Adeola cannot simultaneously be your opponent, your manifesto and the principal subject of your campaign,” Oladele said.
He added that the APC would take its campaign to every part of Ogun State, including areas regarded as strongholds of the opposition.
“We will compete vigorously for every vote, including in Ladi Adebutu’s ward and polling unit. Our campaign will go there determined to harvest votes and score big in his own ward. Ultimately, Ogun voters will examine the records, programmes and arguments presented before them and make their own decision,” he said.
Oladele said Adeola’s political significance had grown beyond his individual ambition, describing his candidacy as the expression of Ogun West’s long-standing governorship aspiration within a broader statewide political movement.
“Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola is no longer just a candidate. He has become a symbol of Ogun West’s long-standing quest for political emancipation — a movement, an idea and a collective aspiration bigger than any one individual.
“What makes the Yayi movement politically significant is that an aspiration rooted in Ogun West has developed a statewide reach, with structures and relationships extending across Ogun Central and Ogun East. It has become a broader conversation about representation, development and the political future of Ogun State.
“My message to the PDP is simple: You can fight a candidate, but you cannot fight an idea whose time has come. You can attack Yayi, but you cannot erase the aspiration he represents. The movement is bigger than the man. Ultimately, the people of Ogun State will write the final chapter at the ballot box,” Oladele concluded.
