The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate for the 2027 Ogun State election, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, has pledged to fully implement the National Teachers’ Policy (NTP) if elected governor, even as teachers across the state have thrown their weight behind his ambition.
The endorsement was announced during an interactive session with teachers held at the Ake Pavilion, Alake Palace Ground, Abeokuta, where representatives of major teachers’ unions and professional associations unanimously adopted Adeola as their preferred candidate for the 2027 governorship election.
Among the groups represented were the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Association of Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS), All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS), OgunTeach Interns and Association of Primary School Head Teachers of Nigeria (AOPSHON).
Speaking on behalf of the teachers, the chairmen of NUT, ASUSS and ANCOPSS — Noah Sewakanu, Felix Agbesanwa and Alaba Olugbenle — attributed the endorsement to what they described as Adeola’s sustained interventions in the education sector.
They particularly commended his sponsorship of WAEC and JAMB registration fees for indigent students, as well as his scholarship and bursary programmes, which they said had eased the financial burden on thousands of students and their families.
The teachers pledged to mobilise their colleagues across the 20 local government areas of the state in support of Adeola, while urging him to make teachers’ welfare a priority and ensure the prompt payment of gratuities.
Earlier, the Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu, described the engagement as an avenue for teachers to communicate their expectations directly to the APC candidate.
Arigbabu commended Adeola for his contributions to education and expressed confidence that teachers’ welfare would receive increased attention under his administration.
He also assured the teachers that the next administration would consolidate the educational gains and developmental achievements recorded under Governor Dapo Abiodun.
Accepting the endorsement, Adeola thanked the teachers for their confidence and pledged to faithfully implement the National Teachers’ Policy, which he described as being consistent with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
He stressed that teachers remain the foundation of national development, recalling that his own achievements were made possible by the solid educational foundation provided by his teachers.
Adeola promised to sustain and expand existing teacher-welfare initiatives while introducing further interventions designed to improve teaching and learning across the state.
Adeola Highlights Education Interventions
Highlighting his record as Senator representing Ogun West Senatorial District, Adeola said he had facilitated the construction of 128 blocks of 12-classroom buildings, 56 staff rooms and four ultra-modern libraries across Ogun State.
He said the interventions also included the provision of furniture, more than 300,000 textbooks, 13 ICT centres and eight skills acquisition centres.
According to him, thousands of teachers and students had benefited from ICT training, while 12,250 laptops were distributed to students, teachers and members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He further disclosed that more than 12,000 Ogun State undergraduates had benefited from his scholarship and bursary programmes, while 102 mini-buses were donated to tertiary institutions to improve transportation on campuses.
Adeola added that he sponsored the 2026 WASSCE registration fees of 2,137 indigent students and facilitated JAMB registration for more than 15,000 Ogun State candidates over the years.
He also recalled his sponsorship of the legislation that upgraded the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, to the Federal University of Technology, Ilaro, describing education as a powerful instrument for transforming individuals and society.
The senator pledged to increase support for teachers through enhanced budgetary allocations and targeted interventions, describing them as critical to the development of quality human capital.
Teachers Reject Allegation of Forced Endorsement
Meanwhile, teachers in Ogun State have rejected allegations by a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that they were being forced to endorse Adeola’s governorship ambition.
In a statement jointly signed by the State General Coordinator of Yayi Teachers, Comrade Sunday Odunaro, and the State Secretary-General, Mr. Taiwo Olusola Increase, the association described the allegation as false, misleading and baseless.
The group, which claimed to have more than 15,000 members across Ogun State’s 20 local government areas, said its members were law-abiding citizens with the constitutional right to freely associate and support candidates of their choice.
According to the association, Adeola was adopted from the beginning of the movement because of what it described as his outstanding contributions to education through legislative representation.
The teachers maintained that they had no apology for their endorsement, insisting that Adeola’s interventions in education were verifiable and had impacted communities across the state.
They cited the construction of classroom blocks, staff rooms, libraries, ICT centres and skills acquisition centres, alongside the distribution of desks, chairs, textbooks and laptops and the provision of ICT training for teachers and students.
On tertiary education, the association commended Adeola for facilitating scholarships of ₦200,000 each for 2,636 students and bursaries of ₦100,000 each for 9,894 Ogun State undergraduates studying in tertiary institutions across Nigeria.
They also praised his donation of mini-buses to tertiary institutions and his role in the upgrade of the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro to the Federal University of Technology, Ilaro.
The association further highlighted his sponsorship of WASSCE registration for 2,137 indigent students in 2026 and the payment of JAMB registration fees for thousands of Ogun students over the years.
The teachers maintained that the interventions had positively affected thousands of families and demonstrated Adeola’s commitment to education and human capital development.
They therefore reaffirmed that their endorsement was voluntary, constitutional and based on his record in the education sector, expressing confidence that his leadership would further transform education and drive broader development across Ogun State.