…says ‘it is insulting for a loser to ask me for refund of campaign expenses’
By Segun Olatunji
Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State, Senator Solomon Adeola, popularly called Yayi, has accused the major opposition elements in Ogun state of being motivated by personal pecuniary interests targeted at looting the treasury of Ogun State rather than offering selfless service to the people of the state for its development.
Senator Adeola Yayi, who spoke against the backdrop of the recent threat and disclosure by Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello that she left APC because he reneged on his alleged promise to refund her campaign expenses following his emergence as APC consensus candidate, among other pecuniary reasons, the APC flagbearer said not only was Iyabo Obasanjo’s demand for refund insulting to him personally, but it clearly showed that her sudden entrance into the Ogun State 2027 governorship race early this year, after a decade and half of absence and disinterest, was an investment to be re-couped and not for service to the people of the state.
The Ogun APC governorship flagbearer stated this while addressing the Council of Iyalajes and Babaalajes (market leaders) in Remoland over the weekend in his senatorial office in Ilaro, Yewa South LGA, a statement on Sunday by his Media Adviser, High Chief Kayode Odunaro, said.
Quoting Senator Yayi, the statement partly read, “Their intention is driven by personal interest and not the interest of Ogun State. Their intention is clear. They don’t mean well for our dear state. They are bitter. They are looking for the state’s purse. One of them said I offended her. She said I reneged on promises. She said she joined the governorship race and failed and wanted me to refund her expenses. That I should refund her dollars and Naira. Did I ask her to join the governorship race?”
The APC governorship candidate explained that he visited Iyabo Obasanjo as part of his consultations and reconciliation of party members like a respected Ogun State indigene that showed interest to govern the state, thinking she meant well for the state only to discover that her interest was just for personal pecuniary gain and selfish interest.
“Asking me to refund you or payback what you have expended on this electioneering campaign is insulting to me. Now, you left the party. You left the party not because the party had wronged you. You left the party because you were offered money. You are not a party person. You just want to cash in. And you are being paid. You don’t mean well for Ogun State. They are there in their numbers looking for the purse of Ogun State ” Senator Adeola further stated.
The ranking Senator told the market leaders that after failing to secure what she wanted from him and the APC, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo turned to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Ladi Adebutu, in pursuit of similar personal benefits, adding that the time would come when more details will be disclosed as his few remarks and her personal disclosures were sufficient to expose what he described as her “political dishonesty.”
The Ogun West senator also addressed the legal challenge instituted against his emergence as the APC governorship candidate, noting that the same political opponents were behind the court action.
He said that those challenging his candidacy will fail because they themselves are confronted with more fundamental legal hurdles.
“Based on existing legal provisions and court judgments, politicians who defected to another political party after May 10, 2026, are not qualified to contest the forthcoming election. We all know when these people left the APC for the PDP. By law, anyone who crossed over after May 10, 2026, is only wasting his or her time. We are waiting for them,” he said.
Senator Adeola said there is no more political party in the PDP as things stand, as they don’t exist as a party in law, adding, ”I make bold to say they don’t exist for now. They still have two factions that are still in court and no one is recognised. It can go either way in the days ahead.”
