The Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo in Ogun State has thrown its full weight behind President Bola Tinubu and Senator Solomon Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, for the 2027 presidential and governorship elections. The group announced the endorsement on Sunday, October 18, 2026, during a courtesy visit to the senator, according to Punch Newspapers.
The socio-cultural organisation went further. It conferred on Adeola the chieftaincy title of Dike Eji Eje Mba, in recognition of what it called his contributions to the development of Ogun State. The installation ceremony is scheduled to hold in Abeokuta at the end of October.
Why the Igbo community in Ogun is backing Yayi
Eze Stephen Okorie, President of Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo in Ogun State, led a five-man delegation to deliver the news personally. He did not mince words about the reason. According to a statement issued on Monday by Chief Kayode Odunaro, Special Adviser on Media to Adeola, Okorie pointed to the senator's record on roads and market infrastructure over the last three years.
Okorie has lived in Ogun State for 36 years, in Owode-Yewa in Yewa South Local Government Area. That is not a man watching from the sidelines. That is a stakeholder speaking from lived experience.
“I have been a resident of Ogun State for the last 36 years, living in Owode-Yewa in Yewa South Local Government Area. We have been watching the politics and development in Ogun State, and based on the massive development that Senator Adeola has attracted to the state in the last three years, particularly in market infrastructure and road construction to promote trade and commerce, the Igbos have no hesitation in endorsing the senator for governor of Ogun State and Tinubu for president in the 2027 election,” Okorie said.
He revealed that he had personally constructed five campaign billboards for Tinubu and Adeola across the state, and produced campaign materials for the senator and the All Progressives Congress. This is grassroots mobilisation, Nigerian style. No press release from Abuja can buy that kind of commitment.
The Ogun West question
Okorie also named another reason for the endorsement, and it is one that resonates far beyond Ogun. He said the support for Adeola was informed by the need to address the marginalisation of Ogun West, which has never produced a governor since the creation of the state. For a pan-African platform that believes in equity among peoples, that argument lands hard. A community asking for its turn at the table, and getting solidarity from another ethnic group, is exactly the kind of cross-ethnic bridge-building that strengthens the nation.
“We have heard of your positive story while you were in Lagos in areas of development and humanitarian deeds, and since you came to Ogun State, you are continuing in the same stride. We are confident that as governor, you will do more for the people of the state and all Nigerians resident in the state,” Okorie added.
The Ohanaeze leader addressed the gathering in a mixture of Igbo, Yoruba and English. That detail matters. In a country where politicians too often weaponise ethnicity, here was an Igbo leader speaking Yoruba to a Yoruba audience in Ogun, and everyone understood the assignment.
Adeola's response: politics of inclusion
Adeola, for his part, did not treat the endorsement as business as usual. He recalled the support he received from the Igbo community during his political career in Lagos State, and noted that the Eze Ndi Igbo in Lagos had already honoured him with the title of Dike Di Ora Nma.
“My brand of politics is politics of inclusion and delivery of good governance for all the people. When roads, schools, hospitals and other infrastructure are constructed, it is for the good of all, and all law-abiding Nigerians are welcome to do business and make progress in Ogun State,” the senator said.
That line deserves attention. Goods governance, in Adeola's framing, is not about where a resident's father's house stands. It is about whether the road to the market is motorable, whether the school has teachers, and whether the hospital works.
Heavyweights in the room
The courtesy visit drew an impressive crowd. Among those present were the APC Deputy Governorship Candidate in Ogun State, Alhaja Kudirat Abiodun Adegunwa Balogun; the Minister of State for Health and Social Services, Dr Kunle Salako; the Ogun State Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Hon. Jimoh Ojugbele; and the APC Ogun West senatorial candidate, alongside other party candidates.
Okorie also said the Abeokuta installation ceremony would feature the formal endorsement of Adeola and a declaration of support for all APC candidates in Ogun State. In other words, the end of October will be less a ceremony and more a political statement.
What this means for Ogun 2027
The endorsement hands Adeola a serious asset ahead of the governorship race. The Igbo community in Ogun is a commercial force, spread across markets in Abeokuta, Sagamu, Ijebu Ode and the border towns of Yewa. When that community organises, it organises with structure.
It also raises the stakes in what is shaping up to be a contested race. The opposition is not sitting still; the PDP's running mate, Yemi Sowunmi-Kolapo, has already declared that Adebutu will win, setting the stage for a fierce battle for Ogun's Government House.
But there is a bigger story here than one state election. An Igbo socio-cultural group endorsing a Yoruba senator, citing performance and equity, is a rebuttal to every voice that says Nigeria's ethnic groups cannot build common political ground. The endorsement is rooted in delivery: roads, markets, trade. It is the old African logic that a good chief is known by the paths he keeps open.
For Tinubu, the Ogun endorsement adds a piece to the 2027 puzzle in the South West. For Adeola, it is both a title and a task. And for Nigerians who believe that inclusion beats division, it is proof that the country's future can still be negotiated around concrete achievements rather than the tired politics of origin.
The installation ceremony in Abeokuta at the end of October will tell the next chapter of this story. Expect the whole state to be watching.
FAQ
Who did the Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo in Ogun endorse for 2027?
The group endorsed President Bola Tinubu for president and Senator Solomon Adeola, known as Yayi, for governor of Ogun State in the 2027 elections.
What chieftaincy title was given to Senator Adeola?
Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo in Ogun State conferred on Adeola the title of Dike Eji Eje Mba, with the installation ceremony scheduled for the end of October in Abeokuta.
Why did the group endorse Adeola?
Eze Stephen Okorie cited Adeola's road construction and market infrastructure in the last three years, plus the need to end the marginalisation of Ogun West, which has never produced a governor.