119 Buses and Vehicles: Yayi Campaign Faces Fresh EFCC Petition

A fresh campaign-finance controversy has emerged in Ogun State ahead of the 2027 governorship election.

A politician, Adekunle Shomorin has petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over 119 vehicles publicly acknowledged as donations to the campaign of Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as Yayi.

The petition asks the anti-graft agency to investigate the identities of the donors, ownership of the vehicles, their actual market values, the sources of funds used to acquire them and whether the donations complied with Nigeria’s campaign-finance and anti-money-laundering laws.

ValidViewNetwork reports that the petition does not establish that Yayi or any of the named donors breached the law.

It asks the EFCC to investigate and verify the claims.

WHY THE PETITION WAS FILED

The petition, dated September 30, 2026, was addressed to the Zonal Director of the EFCC, Ibadan Zonal Directorate. Shomorin described himself as a concerned citizen resident in Ogun State.

His intervention followed Adeola’s September 28 statement in which the APC governorship candidate thanked 22 individuals, companies and groups for donating a total of 119 vehicles, including buses, to support his campaign and grassroots mobilisation across Ogun State.

The petitioner wants the EFCC to establish who actually donated the vehicles and who owns them. He is also asking the commission to determine their actual commercial value and investigate the source of the money used to acquire them.

Another central question is whether the vehicles should legally be treated as campaign contributions, campaign expenditure or in another manner under the Electoral Act 2026.

THE 119 VEHICLES

According to the list published by Adeola, businessman Akintunde Armstrong was credited with donating 26 buses. Alhaji IBD Dende was listed as donating seven buses and an ambulance.

Other listed contributors included Zacobass Oil & Gas, Stonebridge Engineering Services Limited, Elele Ijebu, Amazon Luxury Apartments, Mr Osho and Polanco, each of which was listed as a contributor of 10 buses.

The list also contains several names that the petitioner wants the EFCC to clarify.

Among them are “Citiside Brother”, “Sanusi Friend”, “Olafem Citi Friend”, “Onaolapo Brother”, “OJ”, “Polanco”, “Elele Ijebu” and “Nafiu Abimbola & Friend”.

Shomorin wants the EFCC to establish whether such names represent individuals, companies, groups or persons acting on behalf of other entities.

THE ₦728M QUESTION

The 26 buses attributed to Armstrong are a major focus of the petition.

Shomorin used an 18-seater Toyota Hiace as a benchmark and estimated that each vehicle could be worth about ₦28 million. On that basis, he calculated that 26 vehicles would have an estimated value of approximately ₦728 million.

The petitioner argues that if the vehicles were donated to Adeola’s campaign at that value, the contribution could exceed the ₦500 million maximum donation permitted to an individual or entity under Section 92(8) of the Electoral Act 2026.

However, that calculation is the petitioner’s estimate.

The actual market value of the vehicles, whether they were purchased specifically for campaign purposes, who legally owns them and how the transactions should be classified are matters that would have to be established by the relevant authorities.

ValidViewNetwork reports that the N500 million issue therefore turns not simply on the number of vehicles but on their verified value, ownership, acquisition arrangements and legal classification as donations or campaign expenditure.

PETITIONER PUTS TOTAL VALUE AT ₦3.3BN

Shomorin also questioned the aggregate value of all 119 vehicles. Using his estimated ₦28 million per vehicle, he calculated that the entire fleet could be worth approximately ₦3.33 billion.

He consequently asked the EFCC to establish the actual commercial value of the fleet. He also wants the agency to determine whether the acquisition and deployment of the vehicles constitute campaign expenditure or contributions under the relevant provisions of the law.

This distinction is important because the Electoral Act places separate limits on donations and election expenditure.

WHAT THE ELECTORAL ACT SAYS

Section 92 of the Electoral Act 2026 places the maximum election expenditure for a governorship candidate at ₦3 billion. The same section prohibits an individual or other entity from donating more than ₦500 million to a candidate.

The law also provides sanctions for violations.

A candidate who knowingly breaches the campaign expenditure provision may, upon conviction, face a fine equivalent to one per cent of the permitted expenditure limit, imprisonment for up to 12 months, or both.

An individual who knowingly exceeds the donation limit may face a fine of five times the amount donated above the prescribed limit.

The existence of these provisions, however, does not mean that the 119-vehicle donation has breached them..The relevant authorities would first have to establish the facts surrounding the vehicles.

WHO REALLY OWNS THE VEHICLES?

The petitioner wants the EFCC to go beyond the names contained in the campaign appreciation list.

Shomorin is asking the agency to determine the beneficial ownership of the vehicles and identify the persons or entities that actually financed their acquisition. He also wants the commission to determine whether any of the funds used to acquire the vehicles originated from unlawful or undisclosed sources.

The petition therefore raises several separate questions: Who bought the vehicles? Who owns them? How much were they worth when acquired? Were they donated outright? Were they purchased for campaign use? Who financed them?

And how were they reported under campaign-finance rules?

YAYI’S POSITION

Adeola had described the vehicles as voluntary contributions from supporters and associates. According to the report, he said the vehicles had been deployed for grassroots mobilisation and outreach across Ogun State.

There is no indication that Adeola has been found by the EFCC or a court to have violated campaign-finance laws over the vehicles.

The petition itself is therefore a request for investigation, not a finding of guilt.

ValidViewNetwork reports that the controversy comes as the Ogun 2027 governorship campaign intensifies, placing campaign financing, political donations and the use of campaign resources under increasing public scrutiny.

POLITICAL CONTEXT

The development comes against the background of the increasingly competitive Ogun 2027 governorship race, in which Adeola is the APC candidate.

It also follows an earlier petition to the EFCC and ICPC over alleged budgetary insertions linked to Adeola.

That earlier petition alleged more than ₦1.8 trillion in budget allocations between 2023 and 2026, claims that were not established by the anti-graft agencies or a court. The latest petition is separate and concerns the vehicles publicly identified as campaign donations.

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The EFCC petition places the 119 vehicles within a wider question about transparency in political campaign financing. Whether there was any breach will depend on facts that have not yet been established, including the ownership, acquisition cost, source of funds and accounting treatment of the vehicles.

For now, the petition remains an allegation and a request for investigation. Any conclusion about illegality would properly depend on the findings of the relevant authorities and, where necessary, the courts.