By Segun Olatunji
Ogun State’s theatre of politics just staged its latest comedy of errors, and it deserves a standing ovation for sheer, unadulterated chaos. In the blue corner, we have Abayomi Hunye, a former aspirant who decided that reality is merely a suggestion. In the red corner, we have the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership, frantically holding up a mirror to remind Hunye that he is, in fact, not their guy. At the centre of the storm is Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as “Yayi,” whose family tree is suddenly being treated like a crime scene.
If you ever thought politics was about governance and policy, Ogun State is here to purge you of that delusion.
Great Unveiling of Nobody’s Running Mate
The circus kicked off with what can only be described as a masterclass in political delusion. Fantasising about becoming the next occupant of the Oke-Mosan Governor’s Office, the lead character, Abayomi Hunye took to the stage with all the pomp and circumstance of a man destined for the state house. The main event? Unveiling his “running mate” for a non-existent ticket for the 2027 gubernatorial race.
Of course, there was only one microscopic problem: APC had not given Hunye a ticket. The ruling party even cared no hoot about him.
Watching Hunye name a “running mate” for an APC ticket he does not possess is like a man announcing his wedding date to a beauty queen completely oblivious of his existence. It is bold. It is confident. It is entirely fictional. Hunye stood before the cameras, savouring the klieglights and smiling as if he held the keys to the kingdom, while the rest of the state watched in a mix of amusement and secondhand embarrassment. One can only imagine the conversation with his “running mate”: “Hey, do you want to join me on a hypothetical journey to a non-existent office under a party that wants nothing to do with us?” Would he say no to that?
Ancestry DNA Test, Political Style
But having suddenly realised that simply announcing a fake ticket might not be enough to grab the headlines, Hunye decided to go personal. He turned his attention to Senator Yayi, the political heavyweight currently occupying the front seat of the Ogun APC train.
Hunye did not challenge Yayi’s legislative record. He did not debate his financial policies. Rather, he went full genealogy influencer, openly questioning Yayi’s ancestry, demanding to know where the Senator truly comes from.
In Nigerian politics, when you cannot beat a man on the field, you check his birth certificate. You check his father’s village. You check his grandmother’s favourite market. Hunye’s sudden transformation into an amateur DNA scientist was a sight to behold. It was a classic “he’s an atohunrinwa” card, played with the desperation of a “Baba Ijebu” staker down to his last Naira note, obsessing over another man’s family tree.
Enters Ogun APC
The Ogun State APC leadership did not take long to crash Hunye’s party. They did not just issue a polite correction. They threw the political equivalent of boiling water on Hunye’s parade.
The party’s statement was swift, brutal and dripping with the corporate version of “we don’t know this man”. The APC declared that Hunye is a former aspirant—emphasis on the former. They made it clear that he represents absolutely nobody but himself and his immediate circle of optimistic friends.The party’s leadership essentially looked at Hunye’s grand unveiling and asked, “Who let him in?” They completely denied his candidacy, leaving nimgroggily holding his “running mate,” a microphone, and a whole lot of empty promises. It was a public denial that will go down in Ogun political history as the ultimate “sit down, young man” moment. Of course, he’ll also soon have his day on the grill.
Enters Senator Yayi: The Authentic APC Governorship Candidate
To ensure there was no confusion left in the room, the APC did not just stop at denying Hunye. They went a step further to crown the man whose ancestry Hunye had just spent hours insulting. The party officially confirmed Senator Yayi as its duly recognised, gold-stamped, undisputed governorship candidate for the 2027 election.
To truly appreciate the comedy of Hunye’s challenge, one must understand the sheer absurdity of trying to unseat Senator Yayi in Ogun West. Preposterously, Hunye brought a butter knife to cut a chunk from a dead whale washed ashore at the Bar Beach. Yayi holds an iron grip on the region, having transformed it into a personal political fortress built on three things: a huge war chest, federal might and local loyalty
While Hunye was busy playing Inspector Oriowo with Yayi’s family tree, the party was busy handing Yayi the keys to Oke-Mosan Governor’s Office. The irony is so thick you could cut it with a cutlass. Yayi, without even needing to defend his ancestors, walked away with the prize, leaving Hunye and his cohorts out in the cold. It turns out the party leadership cares a lot more about Yayi’s political machinery than Hunye’s DNA tests.
The Unshakable Fortress of Ogun West
To truly appreciate the comedy of Hunye’s challenge, one must understand the sheer absurdity of trying to unseat Senator Yayi in Ogun West. Preposterously, Hunye brought a butter knife to cut a chunk from a dead whale washed ashore at the Bar Beach. Yayi holds an iron grip on the region, having transformed it into a personal political fortress built on three things: a huge war chest, federal might and local loyalty.
First, let’s talk about the money. As the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Yayi practically holds the keys to the national vault. He has been raining federal projects down on Ogun West like confetti at a wedding. While Hunye was busy printing posters for his imaginary governorship campaign, Yayi was busy paving roads, building modern community markets and installing solar streetlights across all five local government areas of Ogun West. He even dropped over 50 solar-powered boreholes. In Ogun West, Yayi doesn’t just ask for votes; he builds a healthcare centre first.
Then there is the grassroots loyalty. Yayi does not just fund infrastructure; he funds livelihoods. His empowerment schemes are legendary. He has handed out tractors to farmers, sewing machines to tailors, and direct cash grants to market women. He even uses his Abuja connections to secure high-paying Federal jobs for local youths. Trying to convince an Ogun State voter that Yayi shouldn’t be governor because of his ancestry is a tough sell when the ranking Senator just paid their child’s university tuition through his massive scholarship fund.
Breaking the 50-Year Jinx
If the money and the roads weren’t enough to make Hunye’s quest look like a suicide mission, there is the historic weight of the “50-year jinx.” Since Ogun State was created five decades ago, the Ogun West zone (the Yewa-Awori people) has never produced a governor. It is a deep, emotional wound in local politics.
Yayi has masterfully positioned himself as the political messiah who will finally break this spell. Because of this, the elite traditional rulers of the zone—including the Paramount Ruler of Yewaland, the Olu of Ilaro, and the Olota of Ota—have already thrown their royal blankets over Yayi. By attacking Yayi, Hunye wasn’t just attacking a politician; he was attacking the entire region’s best shot at the Oke-Mosan Governor’s Office. It was political heresy.
Let’s not forget that Yayi is an elite political heavyweight who spent years ruling Lagos West—the largest senatorial district in Nigeria—before moving his machinery back home to Ogun. He brought a Lagos-sized war chest and a ruthless campaign strategy that local players simply cannot match. In the APC governorship primary election, Yayi swept a humongous 304,055 votes out of 305,287 accredited voters. Hunye’s share? Well, let’s just say it wasn’t worth counting. Hunye was so obsessed with stopping Yayi that he forgot to even vote for himself during the party primary.
Ogun State’s standing ovation
If this is the appetizer for the 2027 elections, the main course is going to be wildly entertaining. We are still a long way off from the polls, yet the actors are already forgetting their scripts, shouting at the audience, and falling off the stage.
Hunye’s camp will likely claim this is all part of a grand strategy, a chess move that ordinary mortals cannot comprehend. But to the average onlooker, it looks less like chess and more like Ludo played with missing dice.
For now, Senator Yayi can sit back, relax and perhaps send Hunye a copy of his family’s ancestry book for his bedtime reading. As for Hunye’s running mate, one hopes he did not resign from his day job or quit his business just yet. The Ogun APC has made its stance clear: the train is moving, Yayi is the driver, and anyone else trying to sell tickets from the platform is just peddling hot air dressed as mementos.
. Olatunji, Journalist, Political/Crisis Communication Strategist, writes from Ilaro
