NEWS
Hunye Drags Senator Yayi To Court Over Alleged INEC State-of-Origin Declarations
Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, has been dragged before the Federal High Court in Abuja as the legal battle over the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship ticket in Ogun State ahead of the 2027 election takes a fresh turn.
The suit, instituted by Abayomi Hunye, a former APC governorship aspirant in the state, seeks judicial scrutiny of Adeola’s previous nomination forms and statutory declarations allegedly submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during his earlier electoral contests.
At the centre of the latest legal challenge is the question of what Adeola declared as his state of origin in electoral documents when he contested elections in Lagos State.
Hunye’s legal team is asking the court to examine the relevant INEC records and determine whether the information contained in Adeola’s previous declarations is consistent with declarations made in subsequent electoral processes.
The development was disclosed in a statement issued in Lagos by Hunye’s media adviser, Femi Oyewole, following a press briefing by the aspirant’s lead counsel, Olamide Victor.
Victor stressed that the suit was not intended to challenge Adeola’s identity or indigeneity as a Yewa man from Ogun State.
Rather, he said, the legal action was focused on what he described as the need to establish whether information contained in statutory documents submitted under oath to electoral authorities complied with the law.
“We are not challenging the indigeneity of Senator Olamilekan Adeola as a Yewa son. What we are bringing before the court is a matter of statutory integrity and constitutional compliance.
“He has held public elective offices over two decades. What state of origin did he declare under oath in his previous INEC nomination forms when he contested in Lagos State? Was it Ekiti State? Was it Lagos State? Any deliberate inconsistency in documents submitted under oath carries severe legal implications,” Victor said.
The disputed historical documents were not made available to journalists at the briefing.
Victor, however, said the legal team had obtained certified true copies of relevant records from INEC and would rely on them as evidence before the court.
The latest suit adds another layer to the prolonged dispute surrounding the APC’s choice of Adeola as its candidate for the 2027 Ogun State governorship election.
Adeola emerged from the party’s governorship primary conducted in May 2026. According to the results announced by the electoral committee, he secured 304,055 votes out of 305,287 accredited participants, while Hunye was recorded as scoring zero votes.
Hunye rejected the outcome and subsequently challenged the primary, maintaining that issues arising from the process remain subject to judicial determination.
The new suit comes only weeks after the APC reaffirmed Adeola as its recognised candidate for the Ogun governorship election.
In August, the party maintained that Adeola remained its duly recognised candidate and disclosed that his name, alongside that of his running mate, Kudirat Abiodun Adegunwa-Balogun, had been submitted to INEC.
The party also maintained that Hunye had been suspended from its membership.
According to the APC, the suspension originated from a decision taken by executives of Hunye’s ward in Tube, Ipokia Local Government Area, and was subsequently ratified at the local government and state levels.
The national leadership of the party argued that the alleged suspension affected Hunye’s standing within the APC and, consequently, his claim in relation to the governorship contest.
Hunye has strongly disputed that position, raising questions over the circumstances surrounding his alleged suspension and his subsequent participation in the party’s nomination process.
In particular, he has questioned how the APC could regard him as suspended from membership in April while simultaneously allowing him to purchase the expression of interest and nomination forms for the governorship contest later that same month.
“If I was genuinely suspended on April 7, why did the party accept my ₦50m payment on April 28? Why was my application processed, and why was I cleared by the screening committee to contest the primary?” he asked.
Hunye has argued that the sequence of events raises questions that should be resolved through the appropriate legal process.
He has also clarified that his legal action is not simply an attempt to have the court declare him the APC’s candidate.
According to him, his principal demand is for the judiciary to examine the process that produced the party’s candidate and determine whether the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act and other applicable laws were followed.
“I am not asking the media or the public to declare me the candidate. I am asking the judiciary to look at the process, examine the facts under the Electoral Act, and allow the law to take its proper course,” Hunye stated.
The former aspirant has also rejected allegations that his legal battle is being sponsored by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu.
Hunye described the allegation as an attempt to shift attention away from the substantive issues raised in his court challenges.
He maintained that his decision to approach the judiciary was based on his contention that there were irregularities in the APC nomination process that required legal scrutiny.
The APC national leadership, on its part, has continued to reject Hunye’s claim to the party’s governorship ticket.
The party has also warned individuals and organisations against engaging in political dealings with him in the name of the APC, while disclosing that its lawyers had been directed to pursue legal action over what it described as misrepresentation and impersonation.
Hunye has maintained that he is not claiming the party’s ticket outside the legal process, insisting instead that he is exercising his right to seek judicial interpretation and determination of the issues in dispute.
With the latest case now placing Adeola’s previous electoral declarations under judicial scrutiny, the legal contest surrounding the APC’s 2027 Ogun governorship ticket appears set to remain a significant issue in the state’s political landscape.
The 2027 Ogun State governorship election is scheduled to hold on February 6, 2027, according to the timetable published by INEC.