By Asiwaju Kunle Kalejaye, SAN
The ecosystem of Ogun State politics is currently being disrupted by an intense debate surrounding the paternal lineage of Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (Yayi), an undisputed frontrunner for the gubernatorial race.
Opposition factions challenge Adeola’s indigeneship, claiming his roots trace back to Ekiti State rather than Ogun West. This dispute highlights a profound tension within the Nigerian democratic framework: the intersection of _de jure_ constitutional citizenship and _de facto_ ethno-cultural gatekeeping. From a broader perspective, this local conflict spotlights an unresolved jurisprudential chasm between legal positivism, that is, the supremacy of the written text, and sociological jurisprudence, where deeply entrenched traditional realities continuously resist formal statutory norms.
From a strictly positivist standpoint, executive gubernatorial qualifications are explicitly codified, exhaustive, and entirely decoupled from ancestral provenance.
A further interrogation of this proposition leads us to the constitutional provisions that guide our Republican democracy. Section 177 of the 1999 Constitution is apposite. It provides that a candidate is qualified to run for governor if he is a Nigerian citizen by birth, are at least thirty-five years old, is sponsored by a political party, and possess a School Certificate. Nowhere within the quadrate provisions of Section 177 or Section 182 is *“indigeneship”* stipulated as an eligibility condition.
Legally, any Nigerian citizen by birth possesses an absolute constitutional right to seek elective office in ANY constituent state of the Republic. Furthermore, the Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed that the constitutional qualifications are exhaustive. This judicial stance is a complete denial that an attack on an aspirant based on ancestral roots violates Section 42, which strictly prohibits discrimination based on community or place of origin.
This protective framework has been consistently reinforced by previous court decisions handling indigeneship. In _Uzoukwu v. Ezeonu II (1991)_, the Court of Appeal established that discrimination allegations must align with the prohibited grounds stated in the constitution. For instance, in _Hosea O. Yunana v. Executive Governor of Taraba State (2026)_, the National Industrial Court declared that excluding individuals from benefits based on state of origin violates Section 42. Similarly, in _Fatima Baba Akawu v. Jos North Local Government (2026),_ the Plateau State High Court labeled the administrative denial of an identification certificate based purely on ancestry as an act of ethnic discrimination violating Sections 15, 17, and 42 of the Constitution. Drawing on the Supreme Court’s warning in _Lafia Local Government v. Governor of Nassarawa State 2012_ , the judiciary has repeatedly emphasized that local governments cannot create a two-tiered system of citizenship that strips individuals of placement based on ethnicity. It follows irristitably that the dispute over Senator Adeola’s paternal roots is an absolute NON-ISSUE in a court of law.
From a strictly legal standpoint therefore, the Nigerian judiciary has consistently maintained that the qualifications for the office of Governor are exhaustive, meaning no court, state law, or political group can invent new criteria: such as proof of a paternal bloodline. In the landmark case _Alahassan & Anor v. Ishaku & Ors (2016)_, the Supreme Court stated that Section 177 of the 1999 Constitution explicitly lists only citizenship by birth, age, party sponsorship, and education as the quadrate set of criteria for the office of a Governor. “Indigeneship” is not part of these quadrates and cannot be used as a legal barrier to disqualify a candidate. Consequently, lawsuits attempting to invalidate a contender’s eligibility based on local ancestry or state of origin is dead on arrival.
Furthermore, political opponents on this shifty road, face rigid procedural hurdles and a high burden of proof when challenging a candidate’s background in court. Under Nigerian electoral jurisprudence, the judiciary strictly enforces the rules of locus standi (legal standing), as seen in _Incorporated Trustees of Egalitarian Mission for Africa (EMA) v. Atiku Abubakar & Ors (2022)_, where the Federal High Court dismissed an identity-based challenge, labeling the external Plaintiffs as “busy bodies and meddlesome interlopers.” *See also Alhassan & Anor V Ishaku & Ors, (2016).*
Even when genuine questions of identity arise, Section 318(1) of the Constitution provides a broad definition of belonging to a community, requiring only that a candidate, their parents, or their grandparents were born within the territory. The courts have repeatedly ruled that building a previous political career in a different state does not legally diminish a citizen’s right to contest for office in their state of origin.
While the formal courts continue to protect candidates by prioritizing nationwide civic citizenship over ancestral nativism, the broader legal friction surrounding indigeneship remains highly volatile.
Ultimately, Nigerian jurisprudence draws a sharp line between legal eligibility and cultural identity; while an opponent can weaponize a candidate’s ambiguous paternal roots in the court of public opinion, such arguments almost always fail to hold water in a court of law
Despite the profound, precise and concise legal clarity, the history of Ogun State politics reveals that weaponizing ancestral origins through the _atohunrinwa_ (stranger) mantra is a recycled, though worn out, strategic political and tactical maneuver used by the political class to establish informal gatekeeping and mark their territory.
Senator Adeola’s predicament directly mirrors the identity crises manufactured against almost every prominent governorship candidate in the state’s recent history.
Prior to their elections, Chief Olusegun Osoba, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, and Prince Dapo Abiodun all faced undercurrents of lineage whispering from detractors looking to undermine their grassroots support and distract their campaign. Back then precious campaign time and resources were devoted to this irrelivant and orchestrated non-issue! Ironically,they all went ahead to win their elections,the baptism of fire notwithstanding. One is therefore tempted to see a spiritual winning streak in these attacks that belies its poisonous nature.
The repeated recycling of this political weapon stems from a conceptual flaw within the Nigerian state, which fails to reconcile administrative citizenship with the constitutional recognition of the Federal Character principle. This allows local irredentists and emergency nationalists to claim that outsiders should not inherit local historic opportunities.
Ultimately and very unfortunately too , launching attacks centered on indigeneship is a futile political strategy that yields zero legal dividends. The courts, right through its three tiered ladder, consistently reject ancestry as a metric for constitutional disqualification. Jurisprudentially, the attempt to override universal constitutional rights with custom violates the standard repugnancy test, which dictates that any traditional custom inconsistent with natural justice, equity, good conscience and statutory law is null and void.
Rather than fracturing the electorate along primordial lines, Ogun State stands to gain immensely from embracing an open contest anchored strictly on merit, capacity, integrity and credibility. De-escalating the lineage war shifts the focus back to where it truly belongs: evaluating a candidate’s competence, policy track record, and capacity to deliver economic prosperity. When governance is treated as a contest of ideas rather than a genetic screening process, the state unlocks the best potential leadership available. It also fosters robust development that transcends narrow ethnic sentiment and benefits all residents equally.
Surely,these are interesting times as a lot of valuable man hours are depleted on fatally flawed political strategy which cannot legally ground the disqualification of Senator Adeola as a viable gubernatorial contender. The reaction of the voting populace,who are the recipients of this periodic genetic and ancestry locations could best be summed up by the reaction of a commentator to the reportage of the accusation. He said: “even if he be from zamfara na my candidate”
. Asiwaju Kunle Kalejaye, SAN.
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