ABEOKUTA—A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Hon. Kayode Oladele, has told the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), it cannot win the election by trying to rewrite the All Progressive Congress (APC) candidate, Sen. Olamilekan Solomon Adeola’s ancestral history.
According to Oladele, the route has failed to produce a compelling political response to the senator’s record, experience and growing acceptance across Ogun State.
He described the ancestry controversy surrounding Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, as a desperate political diversion and “the last refuge of an opposition that has run out of ideas.”
“Questioning Yayi’s ancestry has become a worn out political cliché and the last refuge of an opposition that has run out of ideas. You cannot defeat a man’s record by rewriting his ancestry, and you cannot erase performance with propaganda.
“If Yayi’s opponents have something better to offer Ogun State, let them put it on the table. However, if their only response to his projects, experience, capacity and growing acceptance is to keep fabricating tales by moonlight regarding his ancestry, then they have already conceded the real argument,” Oladele said.
He maintained that Yayi’s identity and constitutional eligibility were not matters for political opponents to determine.
“Let me be very clear: Yayi is a Yewa man. Beyond that, he is a Nigerian citizen who is constitutionally qualified to contest the governorship of Ogun State.
“Section 177 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, sets out the qualifications for election as governor. Ancestral origin from a particular part of a state is not one of them. You cannot manufacture an additional constitutional requirement simply because you are afraid of an opponent’s political strength.”
Oladele said the choice before Ogun voters should be between competing records and visions for the state.
“Yayi is talking about roads, education, healthcare, empowerment, infrastructure and economic opportunities. His opponents are talking about ancestry. That contrast is telling: one is presenting what he has done and what he intends to do; the other is gasping for breath and searching for a distraction.
“The tragedy for the PDP is that every attempt to reduce this election to Yayi’s ancestry only draws greater attention to the question the PDP desperately wants to avoid: what does the PDP itself bring to the table? Ogun people cannot be persuaded by endless fabrication of one candidate’s ancestry when those making the attacks have failed to present a more compelling record or a superior blueprint print for the state.
“Politics must ultimately be about improving people’s lives. A family tree will not repair a road, equip a hospital, educate a child, create employment or put food on anybody’s table. The people want to know who has the capacity to deliver. That is the terrain on which this election should be fought.”
Oladele challenged the PDP to place its record before the electorate and allow Ogun people to make the comparison.
“My challenge to the PDP is simple: bring your record to the table. Let us compare performance with performance, capacity with capacity, projects with projects and vision with vision.
“If you cannot match Yayi on performance, challenge him on competence or offer Ogun people a superior vision, then stop fabricating tales about his ancestry. Elections are won by earning the confidence of the people, not by rewriting another man’s family history.
“Ultimately, in 2027, Ogun people will choose between records, not rumours; between performance and propaganda; and between a vision for the future and tales by moonlight,” Oladele declared.
