Explain Why You Changed Your Name From Semako Korotoe, Ipokia APC Leaders Challenge Abayomi Hunye

ABEOKUTA – The All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership in Ipokia Local Government Area of Ogun State has challenged a governorship aspirant of the party, Mr. Abayomi Hunye Semako, to explain the circumstances surrounding his alleged change of name from “Semako Korotoe” to “Abayomi Hunye”.

The party leadership made the demand during a press conference addressed by the APC Chairman in Ipokia Local Government, Hon. Agbetokun Wasiu Onikoyi, who questioned the circumstances surrounding the name under which Hunye allegedly served in the Lagos State civil service.

Onikoyi alleged that Hunye was known as “Semako Korotoe” while in the employment of the Lagos State Government, claiming that the name appeared on his official employment records and was used for the payment of his salaries.

He challenged Hunye to make public documents relating to his service in the Lagos State civil service to establish whether “Semako Korotoe” and “Abayomi Hunye Semako” refer to the same individual and explain the circumstances that led to the alleged change of name.

The Ipokia APC chairman specifically called on Hunye to produce documents including his letter of appointment, personal file, payslips, promotion letters, official correspondence and other records relating to his employment with the Lagos State Government.

The APC leader further alleged that the name change occurred at a time when questions surrounding Hunye’s financial dealings were being raised, claiming that the change was allegedly intended to distance him from controversies associated with the former name.

However, the allegations were made by the Ipokia APC leadership at the press conference and no documentary evidence was publicly presented to substantiate the claim.

Onikoyi said the controversy surrounding Hunye’s identity had become relevant because of what he described as the aspirant’s attempts to question the background and ancestry of other political figures.

He argued that Hunye should first provide clarity on his own identity and political antecedents before questioning the roots of Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, whom the Ipokia APC leadership supports for the 2027 governorship election.

The APC chairman questioned why Hunye would allegedly abandon the name under which he was known during his years in the Lagos State civil service.

According to him, the circumstances surrounding the alleged change deserved public explanation, particularly given Hunye’s current political activities and his claims about his ancestry and political standing in Ipokia.

Onikoyi said the APC leadership was also challenging Hunye to explain his claim of belonging to Tube Ward and Ipokia Local Government, alleging that he had not enjoyed the support of the party structure in the area.

He described Hunye’s political activities as a recurring pattern of obtaining nomination forms during election cycles and subsequently seeking political negotiations, rather than participating in competitive party primaries.

The APC chairman alleged that the pattern had, in previous instances, resulted in Hunye securing appointments as Chairman of OSAMCA, Commissioner and Special Adviser.

Onikoyi said, “Let him show the public, by documentary evidence, that Semako Korotoe and Abayomi Hunye Semako are one and the same person. Let him explain, under oath, the full circumstances surrounding his change of name.

“Semako Hunye was in the employment of the Lagos State civil service, he was known, documented, and paid as SEMAKO KOROTOE. That was the name under which he served, signed official documents, and received his salaries. At some point, however, he abruptly abandoned that identity and resurfaced as Abayomi Hunye, an identity change that, according to credible information available to us, was a face-saving manoeuvre designed to escape the fallout of an alleged cooperative scam perpetrated by Mr. Hunye Korotoe, as he was then known.

“A name is more than a label; it is a trail of one’s history, character, and integrity. When a public officer suddenly discards the name under which he built his career, and does so at a time when questions of financial probity are trailing him, the public has a right to ask why. If the change was innocent and lawful, why did it happen precisely at that moment? Why would a man with nothing to hide abandon the very identity under which his employers, colleagues, and business associates knew him? These are not idle questions. They go to the heart of the man’s credibility.

“We therefore challenge this “Name Changer,” Mr. Abayomi Hunye, to produce, without delay, all official documents covering his time in the service of the Lagos State Government, including his letter of appointment, personal file, pay slips, promotion letters, correspondence, and every other record bearing on his employment.”

Onikoyi also dismissed any suggestion that obtaining the APC nomination form automatically protected Hunye from disciplinary action.

He maintained that no position, political ambition or status within the party could place a member above the APC constitution.

According to him, disciplinary proceedings under the party’s constitution could commence from the ward level and progress through the local government and state structures to the national level.

“The mere fact that Hunye obtained nomination forms does not in any way insulate him from the disciplinary action of the Party. No one, regardless of office or ambition, is above the Party’s constitution and disciplinary framework,” he said.

He consequently urged the public to disregard Hunye’s recent activities and statements, saying they did not represent the position of the APC in Ipokia Local Government.

The party leadership, therefore, reaffirmed its support for Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, describing him as the consensus candidate of the APC in Ogun State.

Onikoyi said the party’s support was based on Adeola’s alleged acceptance across the state and his record of infrastructural development and human capital empowerment.

He also cautioned Hunye against making statements challenging Adeola’s indigeneity, insisting that the senator’s ancestral roots in Ishaga, Ilaro and Pahayi were well known.

Also speaking at the press conference, the member representing Ipokia Constituency in the Ogun State House of Assembly, Hon. Adebisi Oyedele, alleged that Hunye was being sponsored by unnamed political interests to challenge Adeola’s emergence.

Oyedele said such an alleged move was against the interest of Ogun West, which, according to him, had waited for about 50 years to produce a governor.

He said the APC leaders and members in Ipokia had rejected Hunye’s political activities and reaffirmed their commitment to Adeola’s governorship ambition.

“The next line of action is that on February 6, 2027, we are going to cast our votes for Senator Adeola Yayi as governor of Ogun State.

“There’s something we should make abundantly clear, we believe that Mr. Abayomi Hunye is being sponsored against the agenda of Ogun West, and this nomenclature has been going on for 50years, that we have never tasted the exalted seat of Governor. I want to say that we know those who are sponsoring him. Giving him money to depose our consensus candidate, Senator Adeola Yayi, we have disown him. We don’t know Mr. Abayomi Hunye in Ipokia local government again. We the APC leaders in Ipokia local government we disown Abayomi Hunye.”

On his parts, the Chairman of Ipokia Local Government, Hon. Johnson Akohomeh Avoseh, stressed that the people and political structures in the area had unanimously thrown their weight behind Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as YAYI, as the next governor of the state.

According to him “As far as Ipokia Local Government is concerned, we don’t want to be in isolation of the progress of Ogun State.”

“We want to be inclusive and we want to be part of good history in Ogun State. And our position as a local government is that we are all supporting Senator Olamilekan Adeola YAYI as the next Governor of Ogun State,” he said.