The controversy over the ancestry of the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in Ogun State, Senator Solomon Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, has escalated, with former Nigerian Ambassador Folake Marcus-Bello daring him to take her to court.
Marcus-Bello, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, said she was still waiting for the legal action Adeola threatened over claims about his state of origin.
The former ambassador repeated her allegation that Adeola had given different accounts of his origin at different stages of his career, including allegedly identifying himself as an indigene of Ekiti while working with The Guardian newspaper.
She challenged him to produce documentary evidence establishing his Ogun ancestry.
“I am a legal practitioner and I am still waiting to be sued,” Marcus-Bello said during a television programme monitored on Sunday.
Adeola had earlier given Marcus-Bello and suspended APC member Abayomi Hunye 24 hours to provide evidence for their claims that he was originally from Ekiti State or face legal action.
Marcus-Bello, however, said she was prepared to defend her position in court, insisting that the issue should not be settled through political exchanges.
She alleged that Adeola’s political records showed what she described as a progression from Ekiti to Lagos and later Ogun.
According to her, Adeola worked in Lagos politics, represented Alimosho in the Lagos State House of Assembly and later the Lagos West Senatorial District before emerging as a politician seeking the Ogun governorship.
She alleged that documents from his employment history could help establish the circumstances surrounding his declarations of origin.
Marcus-Bello also accused Adeola of committing perjury, alleging that he made contradictory declarations under oath.
Those claims have not been established by a court, and Adeola has rejected the allegations as false and defamatory. His media adviser previously described the accusations as “assertive and outrageous lies” and challenged the accusers to produce evidence.
The controversy has also drawn responses from people defending Adeola’s Ogun roots.
A woman identified as his stepmother, Aminatu Abiola, recently rejected claims that the APC candidate had ties to Ekiti, insisting that he was a son of Yewa.
An APC chieftain, Kayode Oladele, has likewise dismissed Marcus-Bello’s claims as legally indefensible and libellous.
Marcus-Bello nevertheless insisted that she was ready for a legal battle and said she would present what she described as documentary evidence.
She also raised questions about Adeola’s alleged financial activities and source of wealth, making claims of financial impropriety involving funds handled during his time as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations.
Those allegations have also not been independently established.
The former ambassador said her intervention was motivated by what she described as concern for Ogun State and urged Adeola to either sue her or publicly answer the questions surrounding his background.
The dispute comes as the 2027 Ogun governorship race gathers momentum, with Adeola already facing challenges to his ancestry from opposition figures and other political actors.