By Idowu Togun
It is unfortunate that, as the political season gathers momentum, some candidates and their supporters appear determined to employ lawyers to file cases from one court to another without first confronting the clear provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Litigation is a constitutional right, and anyone who believes that a candidate is legally disqualified is entitled to approach the courts. But political disagreement, ancestry, place of birth and previous political representation should not be confused with constitutional disqualification.
The case of Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, provides a good opportunity to separate what the Constitution actually says from what political opponents may wish it said.
WHAT DOES SECTION 177 OF THE CONSTITUTION SAY?
Section 177 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, sets out the qualifications for election to the office of Governor of a State.
A person is qualified if:
1. He is a citizen of Nigeria by birth.
2. He has attained the constitutionally prescribed minimum age.
3. He is a member of a political party and is sponsored by that political party.
4. He has been educated up to at least School Certificate level or its equivalent.
That is the constitutional framework.
Now let us consider what is conspicuously absent.
The Constitution does not say that a candidate for Governor must have been born in the state he seeks to govern.
It does not say that his mother must come from that state.
It does not say that he must have lived in that state continuously for 10, 15, 20 or 30 years.
It does not say that he must have begun his political career in that state.
It does not say that he cannot previously have represented another state or constituency.
And it does not create a constitutional requirement that a governorship candidate must produce an ancestral or “indigene” certificate before he can contest.
These may become subjects of political debate, but political arguments are not automatically constitutional requirements.
WHAT ABOUT PLACE OF BIRTH?
This is particularly important in the discussion surrounding Senator Olamilekan Adeola.
Adeola has been publicly reported as having been born in Lagos and having built much of his earlier political career there. He represented constituencies in Lagos before subsequently contesting and winning election to represent Ogun West Senatorial District.
But being born in Lagos does not, by itself, constitutionally disqualify anybody from contesting for Governor of Ogun State.
Section 177 requires Nigerian citizenship by birth; it does not require that the candidate be born within the geographical boundaries of the particular state he seeks to govern.
This distinction is fundamental.
Nigeria is one federation. A Nigerian does not acquire or lose Nigerian citizenship merely because he was born in Lagos, Kano, Enugu, Abeokuta, Ibadan or Port Harcourt.
Therefore, anyone challenging Adeola’s eligibility merely on the ground that he was born in Lagos must identify the specific provision of the Constitution that makes birth within Ogun State a condition for becoming Governor of Ogun State.
Section 177 contains no such requirement.
WHAT ABOUT RESIDENCY?
The same principle applies to residence.
There is no provision in Section 177 requiring a governorship candidate to have lived continuously in the state for a specified number of years before becoming eligible to contest.
Consequently, arguments such as:
“Where has he been all these years?”
“He spent most of his political career in Lagos.”
“He only recently returned to Ogun politics.”
“He previously represented Lagos.”
may be raised before the electorate as political questions. Voters are entitled to consider them.
But they are not, standing alone, constitutional grounds for disqualification under Section 177.
The ballot box and the courtroom perform different functions.
The electorate may reject a candidate for political reasons. A court, however, must determine qualification according to the Constitution and applicable law.
THE SUPREME COURT HAS EMPHASISED THE CONSTITUTIONAL TEST
The Supreme Court has previously made clear that Sections 177 and 182 of the Constitution deal respectively with the qualification and disqualification of candidates seeking election as Governor.
In Shinkafi & Anor v. Yari & Ors, the Supreme Court stressed the distinction between political nomination questions and the constitutional requirements for qualification, reiterating the criteria contained in Section 177.
Similarly, in Tarzoor v. Ortom, the Supreme Court treated Sections 177 and 182 as the relevant constitutional provisions when considering whether a candidate was qualified to contest a governorship election.
The lesson is straightforward:
If you say a person is constitutionally unqualified to contest for Governor, show where he fails the requirements of Section 177 or where he falls within a disqualification recognised by Section 182.
The Constitution, not political sentiment, remains the starting point.
APPLYING THIS TO SENATOR OLAMILEKAN ADEOLA
Senator Adeola’s political history is no secret.
He built a significant part of his political career in Lagos. He subsequently moved his electoral representation to Ogun West and was elected Senator for Ogun West in the 2023 general election.
His supporters also maintain that his paternal ancestry is traceable to Ago-Isaga/Pahayi in Ilaro, Yewa South Local Government Area, and his connection to Yewaland has been publicly asserted for years.
His opponents are free to dispute those historical claims.
But here is the more important constitutional question:
Even if the political argument is that Adeola was born in Lagos and previously represented Lagos, where does Section 177 say that either circumstance disqualifies him from contesting for Governor of Ogun State?
That is the question any serious constitutional challenge must answer.
A man’s birthplace is not necessarily the same thing as his ancestral origin. More importantly, for purposes of Section 177, neither birth within the particular state nor a prescribed period of residence in that state is listed as a qualification for governorship.
OGUN WEST HAS ALREADY VOTED FOR HIM
There is another political fact that cannot simply be ignored.
In 2023, the electorate of Ogun West elected Senator Adeola to represent the district in the Senate.
Whatever arguments may be made about his previous political career in Lagos, the people of Ogun West were given an opportunity through the ballot box to decide whether they accepted him as their representative.
They elected him.
That fact does not place him above constitutional scrutiny. Nobody is above the Constitution.
But neither should constitutional scrutiny be replaced by endless arguments about where somebody was born, where he lived decades ago or where he previously held political office.
COURTS SHOULD DETERMINE LAW, NOT POLITICAL ANCESTRY
Interestingly, recent reports indicate that four separate suits challenging Adeola’s 2027 governorship candidacy were voluntarily discontinued by their respective litigants. That does not, by itself, constitute a judicial declaration on every conceivable eligibility question, but it is important to state the development accurately rather than suggest that all such challenges have produced judgments disqualifying him.
The proper question remains:
What exactly does the Constitution require?
If Senator Adeola satisfies Section 177 and is not caught by any applicable disqualification under Section 182, then objections based merely on his being born in Lagos, having lived in Lagos or previously representing Lagos are political arguments, not additional constitutional qualifications invented by opponents.
LET THE CONTEST BE ABOUT COMPETENCE
Ogun State deserves a serious political contest.
Let candidates debate development.
Let them debate roads, education, healthcare, industrialisation, security, employment, agriculture, infrastructure and the future of our young people.
Let Senator Olamilekan Adeola be questioned about his record, competence, character, capacity and vision for Ogun State.
Let his opponents present their own records and programmes.
But let nobody rewrite the Constitution because the existing provisions are politically inconvenient.
The Constitution does not ask where a governorship candidate’s umbilical cord was buried. It asks whether he satisfies the constitutional qualifications for the office.
Senator Olamilekan Adeola may be challenged politically. He may be criticised. His record may be scrutinised. His ancestry may even be debated in the court of public opinion.
But anyone who claims that his birth in Lagos, residence in Lagos or previous representation of Lagos automatically makes him constitutionally ineligible to contest for Governor of Ogun State must point Nigerians to the exact provision of the Constitution that says so.
Section 177 does not.
Ultimately, the Constitution determines eligibility, the courts interpret the law, and the people of Ogun State determine at the ballot box whom they want as their Governor.
*Let the law speak.
Let the candidates campaign.
And let the people decide.*
IDOWU TOGUN
SEPTEMBER 2026
