Ogun Guber: Insiders Tell Biggest Hurdle Before Adeola Yayi In Getting GNI Isiaka To His Side

Those who should know have revealed the biggest hurdle confronting Solomon Olamilekan Adeola in the campaign by some stakeholders to make Gboyega Isiaka step down and support his ambition to become the next Governor of Ogun state.

Isiaka, the Federal House of Representatives member known as GNI wants to have another go at the Ogun state gubernatorial seat for the fourth time but is under pressure to step down and support first timer with more extensive reach who has been working behind the scenes since around 2012, Senator Adeola famously known as Yayi.

The move is part of efforts to enable the low-vote area of Yewa, which is yet to produce a Governor, to adopt a consensus candidate in the battle for the gubernatorial ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the 2027 election.

“The issue is not particularly getting Isiaka to step down, the main hurdle is to convince those backing GNI to also switch support to Yayi ” according to those in the know.

Information at hand revealed that GNI has become the gubernatorial aspirant of choice for those in Yewa land who do not see Yayi as one of them.

After serving as a multiple-term State House of Assembly Member and House of Representatives member in Lagos state, Yayi left the position of Senator representing Lagos West to win the election as Senator representing Ogun West in 2023 – without taking a break.

A Lagos West Senator transforming into Ogun West Senator in a back-to-back move resulted in deep-seethed outrage and opposition from those who pride themselves as “indigenous ” political leaders and their followers in Yewa.

And they adopted a hard stance against the Senator and all he stands for amid different shades of narratives posturing him as “an outsider” insiders say.

“It is these group of persons operating as indigenous political leaders, their loyalists, and those who share their sentiments that are backing GNI’s gubernatorial ambition as one of their own” according to the information at hand.

Watchers of events insist that, for those lobbying GNI to step down for Yayi to have a chance of getting the Senator adopted as the consensus candidate for Yewa in the race to determine the next Governor of Ogun state, they must provide compelling reasons for the House Representatives member’s backers to tow the same path.

“That is the major hurdle that needs to be overcome, not just getting GNI to step down because without convincing his influential backers to do the same, they will just adopt another person and inevitably scuttle the agenda of a consensus candidate” an insider stated.