By Segun Olatunji
It is truly heartwarming to witness the sudden burst of civic anxiety pouring from the pens of opposition columnists. If you have read Ibiyemi Comfort Pamilerin’s recent commentary, in particular, you would think the All Progressives Congress (APC) has spent the last year huddled in a dark, candle-lit room, casting spells on the photocopiers at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters. The narrative being spun is as melodramatic as a low-budget Nollywood epic: a “terrified” ruling party desperately hiding behind administrative technicalities to avoid a showdown with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Hon. Oladipupo Ladi Adebutu.
Let us pause for a necessary reality check. To suggest that the APC is throwing a massive celebratory party because the opposition literally forgot how to read the Electoral Act 2026 is the absolute height of political comedy. If a student fails to show up for an exam because they misread the timetable, you do not blame the straight-A student in the front row for “celebrating the elimination of competition.” You simply marvel at the lack of preparation and advise them to buy a calendar next time.
The simple, unvarnished truth is that the APC doesn’t need to wish away opposition candidates. When your party is fielding a political heavyweight like Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, universally known as Yayi, you don’t look for shortcuts. You look at the scoreboard and realise the match was over before it even kicked off.
*The Myth of the “Terrified” Frontrunner*
The opposition’s argument hinges on a hilarious premise: that the APC is shaking in its boots over a rematch. Why exactly would anyone be trembling? While the opposition was busy treating party registration deadlines as mere suggestions, Senator Yayi was traversing the length and breadth of Ogun State, building a consensus that spans all three senatorial districts.
This isn’t a candidate who dropped from the sky or relied on a wealthy family inheritance to buy a ticket. Yayi secured his place through an overwhelmingly popular internal process, drawing 304,055 votes out of 305,287 accredited voters in the APC primary. That is not the portrait of a party unsure of its footing; that is a well-oiled political steamroller showing its muscle.
To imply that Yayi’s acceptability among the Ogun electorate is based on who isn’t on the ballot ignores over two decades of flawless legislative excellence. We are talking about a man who has won six consecutive elections, served as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, and currently commands the powerful Senate Committee on Appropriations. If the APC wanted an easy walkover, they wouldn’t have fielded their absolute best asset. They would have fielded someone as disorganised as the PDP.
*A Record That Speaks Louder Than Petitions*
Let us talk about the “ideas, records, and capacity” that the opposition column so desperately wants us to debate. While the PDP is frantically filing appeals to fix its internal administrative blunders, Yayi’s camp is busy inaugurating actual, physical projects.
Ogun State electorate does not feed on angry press statements; they look at tangible developments. Consider the sheer scale of Senator Yayi’s interventions across the state, which the opposition seems conveniently blind to:
• Infrastructure: Facilitating the construction and rehabilitation of over 200 roads, including vital links like the Olomu–Ososun Road, transforming rural connectivity while others transform court papers.
• Education: Funding bursaries and scholarships for more than 5,500 tertiary students, building over 340 modern classroom blocks and setting up 11 fully equipped ICT centres.
• Healthcare: Delivering comprehensive medical infrastructure, including a massive four-storey fully equipped hospital building at the Remo General Hospital, alongside 14 parallel healthcare projects statewide.
• Grassroots Empowerment: Provision of over 167 community transformers, distribution of a million bags of fertiliser and tractors to farming clusters, and training 10,000 youth with actual startup grants—not just promises.
When a single individual has facilitated more infrastructure as a legislator than entire local administrations manage in a decade, the conversation about “acceptability” is already finished. The electorate isn’t choosing Yayi because he’s the only option left; they are choosing him because his track record makes him the only logical option.
*The ITESIWAJU Blueprint vs. Empty Rhetoric*
If the opposition wants a debate on the future of Ogun State, the APC candidate has already laid out the syllabus, graded the papers and moved on. Yayi’s structured ITESIWAJU Agenda is a comprehensive nine-pillar developmental blueprint designed to take the state to the next level.
He isn’t just speaking in vague, poetic generalities about “good governance.” He has committed to establishing a New Towns Development Agency to modernise urban planning, a dedicated Ministry of Wealth Creation focused entirely on sustainable job training and a state-backed mobility platform called “Aurora” to provide health insurance and asset funds for commercial transport operators.
Furthermore, his recent direct interactions, such as the “Gen Z Meets Yayi” interactive session at the June 12 Cultural Centre in Abeokuta, demonstrate a candidate completely at ease with being scrutinised by the public. He isn’t hiding behind INEC; he is standing directly in front of the youth, answering hard questions, taking notes and taking selfies.
*The Verdict of the Gatekeepers*
Democracy is indeed about giving the people the freedom to choose. But it is also about presenting a candidate capable of uniting a historically fragmented state. For half a century, Ogun West Senatorial District faced a political jinx, failing to produce a governor. Yayi’s candidacy represents a historic consensus, breaking that 50-year barrier with the explicit blessings of Governor Dapo Abiodun and political stalwarts like ex-governors Chief Olusegun Osoba, Senator Gbenga Daniel and Senator Ibikunle Amosun.
So, to our dear opposition commentators: dry your tears and check your grammar. The APC is not celebrating the exclusion of your candidate. If anything, we are mildly disappointed that we won’t get the satisfaction of beating him fairly at the polls. But please, don’t confuse our amusement at your legal incompetence for fear. While you sort out your basic paperwork with the courts, Senator Yayi will keep doing what he does best: delivering real progress to the people of Ogun State.
Olatunji, a Political/Crisis Communication Strategist, writes from Ilaro, Ogun State
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