Reloaded News Desk
The controversy surrounding the identity and name of Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, has returned to the political arena as the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in Ogun State moves towards the 2027 election.
But the latest development has added a new element to an old controversy.
Yayi’s media adviser, Kayode Odunaro, has now explained that the senator changed his name from Sulaimon Ogunleye to Solomon Adeola after converting from Islam to Christianity, saying the change took place years before Adeola entered politics.
The explanation came amid renewed allegations by political opponents concerning the senator’s ancestral identity, including claims that he is originally from Ekiti State.
How the controversy began
The question of Adeola’s name is not new.
An account published in 2017 reported that he was born into a Muslim family and originally bore the name Sulaiman Ogunleye, which he used during his years at The Guardian newspaper.
That account said Adeola later converted to Christianity and changed his name to Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, adopting Adeola as his surname from his family name.
The same account claimed that the name change followed the required process and was published in national newspapers.
However, that older account should be distinguished from the senator’s current official biography, which identifies him as Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola and states that he was born in 1969 at Lagos Island Maternity Hospital to Ayinde and Abeeni Ogunleye.
For years, Adeola’s political career continued under the Solomon Olamilekan Adeola identity.
He served in the Lagos State House of Assembly from 2003, moved to the House of Representatives in 2011 and became Senator for Lagos West in 2015. He later moved his political base to Ogun State and won election to represent Ogun West in the Senate in 2023. His official biography records those stages of his political career.
The name issue resurfaced more forcefully in 2026 as Adeola emerged as the APC’s candidate for the Ogun governorship election.
The latest controversy, however, has expanded beyond the question of what name he previously bore.
Opponents have alleged that the senator is an indigene of Ekiti State; an allegation Adeola has rejected and threatened legal action over.
On September 15, his media adviser said Adeola had given two individuals 24 hours to produce evidence supporting their claims about his origin or face legal action.
Against that background, Odunaro has now provided the most direct explanation from Adeola’s camp for the name change.
Speaking in an interview, Odunaro said Adeola was born into a Muslim family and later became a Christian.
He said the senator was known as Sulaimon Ogunleye before changing his name to Solomon Adeola.
According to Odunaro, “Solomon” was adopted as the Christian equivalent of Sulaimon, while Adeola was selected as the surname from his family name.
He also stressed that the change occurred long before Adeola entered partisan politics.
There is, however, another version of the early-name history now circulating.
Aminatu Abiola, identified as Adeola’s stepmother, recently said in a video that his birth name was Sule, adding that he was born a Muslim and changed his name to Olamilekan after becoming a Christian.
She also rejected claims linking him to Ekiti State and described him as a son of Yewa.
That account differs in the precise names cited from the version given by Adeola’s media adviser.
What is consistent between the two accounts is the central explanation that Adeola was born into a Muslim family, later converted to Christianity and subsequently adopted a Christian-associated name.
The timing is significant.
The name controversy has not resurfaced in isolation. It has emerged alongside a broader political dispute over Adeola’s ancestral connection to Ogun State at a time when he is seeking to become governor.
Adeola’s opponents have questioned his Ogun identity, while traditional figures in Kemta have publicly rejected the claims and affirmed his connection to the community.
The Oluwo of Kemta and Baaye of Egbaland, Chief Abayomi Rotimi, recently said Adeola remained a son of the community and urged that political disagreements should not be allowed to determine traditional recognition.
The senator’s stepmother has similarly rejected the Ekiti allegation, while Adeola’s media camp has demanded evidence from those making the claim.
For now, therefore, two separate questions have become intertwined in the political debate; the history of Adeola’s name and the question of his ancestral origin.
His media adviser has now given a clear explanation for the former, that the change followed his conversion from Islam to Christianity.
The latter remains a contested political claim, with Adeola rejecting the allegation that he is from Ekiti and threatening legal action against those making it.
What began years ago as a question about a politician’s former name has therefore returned to the centre of Ogun’s 2027 political contest, this time alongside a much wider dispute over identity, ancestry and political belonging.
