Ogun 2027: Everywhere You Go, It’s Yayi

Femi Ogbonnikan

In the unfolding political contest for Ogun State, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola of the All Progressives Congress (APC), popularly known as Yayi, appears to be building his campaign around a simple but compelling message: “Yayi ni, Yayi ni jọ̀ọ́.”
Beyond its catchy rhythm, the slogan projects confidence, reinforces his political identity and seeks to communicate a sense of widespread acceptance.
From okada riders and transport union members to traders, artisans, professionals and civil servants, the campaign message is designed to resonate across different segments of the state.

Yet beyond the excitement surrounding the slogan lies a more fundamental question: what has Yayi done to earn the goodwill he is banking on as he positions himself for the governorship? For a politician seeking to govern a state as politically conscious, enlightened and economically diverse as Ogun, goodwill is rarely built on slogans alone.
It grows from relationships, accessibility, perceived performance and the ability to demonstrate that political influence can translate into tangible benefits for the people.

In Adeola’s case, his legislative journey, political network and growing visibility in Ogun State constitute important elements of his appeal, but it is his record on the ground that gives weight to the chant.
Adeola’s political career has taken him through the Lagos State House of Assembly and the House of Representatives before his election to the Senate, where he represents Ogun West Senatorial District.
This experience across different legislative levels provides him with an understanding of lawmaking, public finance, constituency representation and the workings of government.

For his supporters, that background is an important qualification for a governorship contest that will demand not only political leadership but also administrative competence and the capacity to navigate competing interests.
Perhaps the most significant institutional advantage he brings to the political equation is his position as chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations.
The committee occupies a pivotal place in Nigeria’s budgetary process, overseeing the consideration of the federal budget and playing a major role in scrutinising proposed expenditure and coordinating legislative work on appropriations.
At a time when public resources are stretched and the demand for development continues to rise, that experience is critical because budgeting determines how public funds are allocated among infrastructure, education, healthcare, security and other priorities.

For Ogun State, Adeola’s familiarity with federal budget negotiations and public expenditure provides a platform from which he could advocate for projects and initiatives that benefit the state, while also helping him understand the relationship between federal allocations, state finances and the practical demands of development planning.

However, the real measure of effective representation must ultimately be found in verifiable outcomes, and this is where the Yayi narrative moves from politics to evidence.
In just over three years as Senator for Ogun West, Adeola has facilitated what independent observers describe as an infrastructure revolution.
Speaking at the Iganmode Cultural Festival in Ota in December 2025, he disclosed that about 300 projects had been completed across the district, a figure that has continued to grow.
The breakdown is revealing and touches every critical sector. It includes over 115 road construction and rehabilitation projects, 30 school buildings comprising more than 150 new classrooms, 32 primary healthcare centres, two intensive care units, 25 modern markets including the landmark Agbara and Igbesa Ultramodern Markets and the Obada Ultramodern Market in Imeko-Afon, 13 town halls including the Omidokun Ultra Modern Hall in Ayetoro, 10 ICT centres, two libraries and eight police stations including the Idiroko border station to strengthen security in border communities.
Strategic corridors that had been abandoned for decades have been opened, including the Imasayi-Ayetoro Road, the Ilashe-Koko-Alari Road, the Ilara-Ilashe 25-kilometre border corridor linking agrarian communities to markets, the Ilaro-Owode Road, the Atan-Agbara Road, the Kajola and Iboro network, Baba Emili Road in Ilaro, Isale Araba Road, Ebute Igbooro Road and Palace Roads in Imeko and Afon. These are not just projects; they are responses to the systemic neglect that Ogun West had suffered for over 50 years, where dilapidated roads and institutional abandonment were the norm.

In the power sector, his intervention has been equally deliberate. Over 200 electric transformers have been donated and installed, 250 solar streetlight projects comprising about 26,000 poles have been deployed, and personal intervention to repair 10 major electricity infrastructures affecting about 100 communities, including the Ilaro to Ibeshe 33KV line, has restored hope to businesses and households.
In early 2026, to mark his 56th birthday, he donated transformers to Ijebu Imushin, Ishagunse and Itele in Ogun East, signalling an expansion of his developmental reach beyond Ogun West and demonstrating a statewide outlook that is crucial for a governorship ambition.His approach to representation goes beyond concrete and mortar.

Constituency representation also involves maintaining contact, identifying needs and ensuring communities do not feel abandoned after elections, and Adeola’s empowerment architecture is perhaps his most direct connection with the people.
The flagship is the “Oloja Yayi” Market Support Fund. What started on February 6, 2023, with N25,000 grants to 5,000 traders during his Senate campaign has evolved into a statewide micro-financing scheme in partnership with the National Productivity Centre.
On January 28, 2024, another 5,000 traders across the five local governments of Ogun West received N50,000 each. By April 27, 2025, the grant had been increased to N75,000. In July 2026, 4,000 traders in Ogun West received N75,000 each at the Asade Agunloye Pavilion, Ilaro, after similar exercises for 3,000 traders in Ogun Central at Ake Palace, Abeokuta, and thousands in Ogun East in Ijebu-Ode, thereby covering all three senatorial districts. Cumulatively, over 15,000 market men and women have benefited from direct grants, while over 50,000 constituents have been empowered through skill acquisition, equipment support and cash grants.
This is designed to complement Governor Dapo Abiodun’s “Okowo Dapo” and the Federal Government’s TraderMoni schemes, but with larger ticket sizes that protect traders from loan sharks and help them restock in an era of high inflation. In agriculture, where Ogun West serves as the food basket of the state, about 6,000 farmers have received support including tractors, power tillers, improved seedlings and N100,000 cash grants per farmer, while artisans across the district have received tricycles, mini-buses, grinding machines, sewing machines and vulcanizing machines that translate directly into daily income.

Beyond markets and roads, human capital development has been central to his model.
In education, apart from the more than 150 classrooms across 25 locations including 12-classroom blocks at Ansar Ur Deen Primary School, Igbogila and Technical College, Joga-Orile, Ayetoro, his most monumental intervention is legislative and structural, playing a pivotal role in the transition of the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, into a Federal University of Technology, thereby giving Ogun West its first federal university and expanding access to higher education for thousands of young people.
He has also instituted a N200 million scholarship and bursary scheme for over 1,600 tertiary students across Ogun State, easing tuition pressure for families affected by subsidy removal and ensuring that financial constraints do not cut short academic dreams. The 10 ICT centres he facilitated are equipped to train young people for digital jobs, while mini-stadiums and vocational centres provide platforms for skills acquisition and sports development.

In healthcare, the 32 primary healthcare centres and two ICUs are complemented by free medical outreaches, health insurance enrolment for vulnerable constituents and upgrading of internal roads in state hospitals in Ilaro and Imeko, bringing care closer to those who need it most.
This blend of philanthropy and development, from scholarships to health support, reinforces the perception of accessibility and responsiveness that underpins the Yayi brand.
Nevertheless, the distinction must be made between holding an influential legislative office and demonstrating the capacity to govern.
A senator’s role in federal appropriations is different from a governor’s responsibility for managing a state’s finances, supervising the civil service, implementing policies and delivering public services.

Adeola’s next level challenge, therefore, is to show how his legislative experience and constituency model can translate into an effective, transparent and people-centred administration for all of Ogun.
Political goodwill remains an important currency in Ogun’s governorship race, and Adeola’s campaign slogan seeks to turn name recognition into a broader movement, presenting him as a candidate whose appeal extends beyond established political circles.

His immediate concern is to sustain that appeal across Ogun West, Ogun Central and Ogun East, while addressing the distinct expectations of communities across the three senatorial districts. What is clear, however, is that “Yayi ni Jọ̀ọ́” did not emerge from a billboard.
It emerged from markets where traders have received grants, from communities where transformers now hum after years of darkness, from roads where dusty tracks became asphalt, and from classrooms where children now sit under new roofs.

Ultimately, the Yayi project will be judged not simply by the volume of campaign enthusiasm it generates but by the strength of its policy agenda, the credibility of its promises and the evidence supporting its record.
His legislative experience, his strategic position as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, his infrastructure footprint spanning roads, power, health and education, and his empowerment and philanthropy touching over 50,000 lives provide a foundation on which he can build his case.
For Ogun State, the stakes in 2027 go beyond slogans and sentiment.
The state needs a leader who understands its diversity, who can balance the industrial power of Ogun Central and Ogun East with the developmental yearnings of Ogun West, and who can convert federal leverage into state advantage.
Adeola’s trajectory suggests he has built more than name recognition; he has built a political economy of goodwill anchored on visible projects, direct empowerment and sustained presence.
From roads that reconnect farm settlements to markets, to transformers that revive small businesses, to grants that keep traders afloat and scholarships that keep students in school, his interventions speak to a model that prioritizes people over rhetoric.
Yet the governorship demands more than constituency touchpoints. It demands a statewide blueprint for industrial growth, for agro-processing, for youth employment, for healthcare and for fiscal discipline. If Yayi can translate the momentum of “Yayi ni jọ̀ọ́” into a coherent agenda that assures every part of Ogun that their interests will be protected and their potential unlocked, then the goodwill he has banked may indeed become the capital that delivers the Government House.

The slogan has done its job of opening ears. What remains is to present the plan that will win hearts and secure the future.

*Ogbonnikan writes from Okeagbede, in Imeko-Afon LGA of Ogun state.