Questions over the identity and business history of Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the 2027 Ogun State governorship election, have resurfaced following fresh allegations by journalist and former Ijebu East Local Government chairman, Wale Adedayo.
Adedayo alleged during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today that Adeola was originally known as “Sulaimon Ogunleye” and hailed from Ekiti State. He challenged the senator to prove his ancestral connection to Ogun State.
The allegation has triggered a political controversy ahead of the 2027 election, with Adeola’s supporters rejecting the claim and other political figures defending his Ogun ancestry.
Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Iziaq Salako, for instance, said on the same television programme that Adeola is an indigene of Ogun State from both his paternal and maternal sides, adding that his father was from Paayi near Ilaro while Adeola himself was born and raised in Ipaja, Lagos.
Adeola’s camp has also rejected the allegations. In a statement issued through his media adviser, Chief Kayode Odunaro, the senator demanded evidence from individuals repeating claims about his alleged Ekiti origin and threatened legal action if they failed to substantiate them.
Beyond the ancestry controversy, questions have also been raised about the corporate records of Sootem Nigeria Limited, a company Adeola has publicly associated with his professional career before politics.
Adeola’s biography states that he worked for 12 years at The Guardian, later joined the audit firm Olatunji Omoyeni & Co., where he rose to senior auditor, and subsequently established Sootem Nigeria Limited, serving as its managing director and chief executive. The company has been described in profiles of the senator as a tax consultancy firm.
However, corporate records cited in the controversy appear to contain different descriptions of the company’s activities.
Sootem Nigeria Limited, with registration number RC 391165, was incorporated on September 21, 2000. A subsequent company, Sootem Engineering Nigeria, with registration number RC 1474389, was incorporated on February 27, 2018, at No. 5, Ayo Oluyemi Crescent, Orelope Bus Stop, Egbeda, Lagos.
The available records cited do not identify the companies primarily as tax consultancy businesses. One entry describes photography services, while the later company is associated with engineering.
The records also contain several names bearing the Ogunleye surname. Listed directors include Ogunleye A. Ismaila, Olaleye A. Oluwadamilare, Ogunleye O. Temitope and Ogunleye S. Olamilekan. Shareholders include Sulaiman Olamilekan Ogunleye, Oladayo Temitope Ogunleye, Akolawole Olaleye and Adewale Ismaila Ogunleye.
The similarity between the name “Sulaiman Olamilekan Ogunleye” and Senator Adeola’s name, Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, has subsequently been cited by critics as part of the questions surrounding his identity.
However, the names appearing in a company’s corporate records do not, by themselves, establish that they refer to the senator or prove that he previously used the name Sulaimon Ogunleye.
Indeed, Adeola’s publicly documented family history already contains the Ogunleye surname. His biography identifies his father as Ayinde Adeola Ogunleye and his mother as Abeeni Olasunbo Ogunleye.
The presence of several Ogunleye names in a company associated with him could therefore have an ordinary family or business explanation. It does not independently establish the allegation made by Adedayo.
The corporate-record issue also requires caution. A difference between a company’s registered business description and how its founder later describes its activities does not, without the underlying CAC documents and other evidence, establish wrongdoing. Companies can change activities, operate under related entities or have records that are not fully reflected in third-party databases.
What is established is that Adedayo has publicly made the allegation that Adeola’s original name was Sulaimon Ogunleye and that he is from Ekiti State. Adeola and his supporters have rejected the claim and maintained that he is an indigene of Ogun State.
The controversy has now moved beyond social media and political exchanges, with Adeola’s camp threatening legal action against some individuals who have repeated the Ekiti-origin allegation.
As the 2027 Ogun governorship contest approaches, the dispute is likely to remain part of the political conversation unless the competing claims are settled by verifiable documentary evidence.
For now, Adedayo’s claim remains an allegation, while Adeola’s position is that he is an indigene of Ogun State. The corporate records raise separate questions about the history and registered activities of Sootem, but the available information does not by itself establish a connection between the senator and the alleged former identity.