•Yayi and Folake Marcus-Bello
A former Nigerian Ambassador to Zambia and Malawi, Ambassador Folake Marcus-Bello, has dared the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress for the 2027 election in Ogun State, Solomon Adeola, better known as Yayi, to prove his Ogun State indigeneship or carry out his threat of suing her.
Marcus-Bello, who spoke during a television programme monitored yesterday, said she had yet to receive any court notice after Adeola threatened to sue her over comments on his ancestry, insisting that Adeola lied under oath and that amounted to perjury, reports Daily Independent.
She alleged that Adeola claimed Ekiti indigeneship while he worked at The Guardian, and claimed Lagos subsequently, insisting that he was not an indigene of Ogun State.
Challenging him to present documentary proof of his roots, she said, “I am a legal practitioner and I am still waiting to be sued. The truth of the matter is that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria does not restrict anyone from moving around. We don’t have a problem with that. But allowing a ‘liar’ to govern Ogun will dent the respect and sterling history the state commands.”
The former ambassador alleged that Adeola’s records at The Guardian Newspapers where he once worked but later “left under serious circumstances” showed Ekiti as his state of origin.
“The very first time he went to work at The Guardian, you know we are all news people. Your (Adeola’s) forms in Guardian says you (Adeola) are from Ekiti. Then, you left under very serious circumstances. There was even a panel set up in Guardian. What I am waiting for is for him to take me to court,” she said.
Marcus-Bello alleged what she described as a pattern of identity change, claiming the Senator moved from Ekiti to Lagos where he represented Alimosho in the Lagos State House of Assembly and later the Senate, before moving to Ogun State.
“What does he take Ogun State for? In Alimosho, you went to the Lagos State House of Assembly; from there, you went to the Senate through Lagos; then, you jumped on Ogun State. So, now, it is Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun,” she said.
She argued that while a senatorial contest could be overlooked because it only affects a section of the state, the governorship of Ogun State “is a different matter.”
“There are so many sons and daughters of Ogun State that are capable. How can you jump from Ekiti to Lagos at Alimosho and jump on Ogun State again? It is not acceptable,” she stated, revealing how Adeola allegedly lied on oath by claiming that he is an indigene of Ekiti State during his stay in The Guardian.
Dismissing a claim made by a certain woman who alleged that she was a step-mother to Adeola, Marcus-Bello said it was no longer a secret that people hire certain individuals to play some roles for them, including posing as relations.
She also vowed to compel the court to exhume a grave in Shomolu where Adeola claimed that his father was buried in order to ascertain the veracity of the claim.
“He (Adeola) said that his father’s grave is now in Sunmola Street in Shomolu. I am an Ijebu woman. Ijebus own Shomolu. So, we will investigate that. You know in Lagos, you can hire a husband, you can hire a wife, you can hire mother-in-law. There is nothing you can’t hire in Lagos, so, we need to check if that grave has been hired and we will go to the bottom of this with him.
“We will go to court and ask the court to exhume whoever is in that grave. Next, one old woman came and said ‘I am the step mother’. She was rented! If she was not rented, she said ‘I am the second wife of Olamilekan’s father.’ Where are the other siblings? Is he an only child? And another thing is that if we want to start this fight, we will use technology.”
“We have read now that if you sleep with a man, the DNA stays with you for life. Look at the condition of that woman, does she look like someone related to a billionaire?” Marcus-Bello asked.
Giving more details about Adeola’s alleged perjury, the South-West Woman Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party, alleged inconsistencies in his declarations of origin.
“There is something about lying on oath, which is perjury. The first time you (Adeola) raised your hand, you signed a form where you went to work to say I am from Ekiti; the next time you went and said I am from Lagos State; the next time you surfaced in Ogun State. Look, it is pure perjury,” she alleged, asking the APC candidate to come clean on his real identity.
She added, “The Constitution is clear on this note. It even gives you certain conditions, whereby if you are from Anambra and you’re claiming Lagos, there are conditions which you just have to fulfill. There is a certain number of years prescribed for you to have lived there.
“That’s another perjury because he (Adeola) hasn’t lived there for that long. They said the court is a place where common people are sorted out. All I want is to go to court or we sit down across you (TV anchor) like this and discuss it.”
She also alleged financial impropriety against the Senator, claiming that funds meant for other purposes and other senatorial districts across the country, ended up in Ogun State while he was Chairman of Appropriation.
“There are so many documents to show financial impropriety especially at Senate level. Almajiri funds for the poor children of Nigeria ended up in Ogun State. So many other funds.. funds in Anambra ended up in Ogun State because you’re Chairman of Appropriation,” she claimed.
Questioning his source of wealth, the former ambassador wondered how Adeola amassed so much money when there was no business or other legitimate sources of income linked to him.
“You (Adeola) give out millions of naira on a daily basis, we are still going to ask you for your source of income. That is coming. There is no factory, there is no consultancy, there is no investment but you share millions around,” she said.
The former Ambassador said she was motivated by justice and the future of Ogun State to confront Adeola, saying the alleged silence of other leaders and elders in the state at this critical time was not golden as generations yet unborn would ask questions should “a liar” end up in the topmost public office in Ogun.
“I have to speak so that on the day of judgement, either in Nigeria or in Heaven, it will be that someone spoke up,” she said, challenging Adeola to a public debate or in court.
She also accused the Ogun State government of stifling opposition campaigns by pulling down posters of PDP candidate, Ladi Adebutu, and blocking campaign trains.
“Just drive through Ogun State and see how many APC posters are up. In Remo, we have the footage of APC boys going round, pulling down posters and a couple of days ago, there was an incident of shooting,” she alleged.
She insisted that the courts must determine the matter to set a precedent.
“Can a liar, somebody who commits perjury be a governor of Ogun State? I am waiting for the court documents,” she said.
