Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola popularly known as “YAYI” was born on August 10, 1969, at Lagos Island Maternity Hospital, to the family of Sir Ayinde Adeola Ogunleye and Madam Abeeni Olasunbo Ogunleye (née Akinola). His early childhood was spent in Alimosho, where his parents raised him to overcome the many challenges of early life.
He began his education at State Primary School, Alimosho, in Lagos State. He proceeded to Community Grammar School, Akowonjo, Lagos, for his secondary education. His quest for higher education led him to Ondo State Polytechnic, Owo (now Rufus Giwa Polytechnic), in Ondo State, where he earned a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Accounting.
Adeola became a Chartered Accountant at a relatively young age. He is a distinguished Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, and a member of the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT).
He worked at The Guardian Newspapers Limited, where he rendered almost 12 years of accounting service and rose to the position of Accountant. From The Guardian Newspaper, he moved to Olatunji Omoyeni & Co., where he led audit teams and was eventually promoted to the position of Senior Auditor. He later established his own firm, SOOTEM Nigeria Limited, which specialised in tax consultancy before he ventured into public service through partisan politics.
He was elected as a member of Lagos State House of Assembly representing Alimosho State Constituency 2, where he served between 2003 and 2007. His re-election made him serve in the same capacity between 2007 and 2011. During this time, he served as Chairman of the Finance Committee and Joint Chairman of the Appropriation Committee. Senator Adeola contributed to the legislative framework that facilitated the widely acclaimed development of Lagos State, playing a key role in supporting the executive arm through legislative enactments during his eight-year tenure.
Without a doubt, his remarkable performance in Lagos State naturally paved the way for his transition to national service. In 2011, Adeola was elected to represent Alimosho Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives. This marked the beginning of 12 years of unbroken legislative service at both state and federal levels. While in the House, he was appointed Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, the only constitutional committee of the House.
Due to his outstanding legislative performance and effective representation, Senator Adeola moved on to become the Senator for Lagos West Senatorial District, the most populous senatorial district in Nigeria, in 2015. He made history by moving through consecutive electoral victories from the State Assembly to the House of Representatives and then to the highest legislative body in Nigeria, the Senate. In the 8th Senate, he served as:
The pioneer Chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Content
Chairman, Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on the Alleged Misuse and Non-Remittance of Revenue by Federal MDAs
Chairman, Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on the Investigation of the Total Upstream Egina $16 Billion Offshore Oil Project
Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Communications
He was re-elected to the Senate in 2019 and was appointed as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance. He also became a member of the Governing Board of the Nigerian Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS). On February 26, 2020, he was appointed to the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). As Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, he worked tirelessly to ensure timely preparation and passage of three MTEF/FSP reports, thereby contributing to the return of Nigeria’s budget cycle to the January-December schedule. He also played a pivotal role in the passage of the landmark Finance Acts of 2019 and 2020. Under his committee’s oversight, several revenue-generating MDAs were compelled to remit hundreds of millions of naira, with some agencies opting out of the federal budget altogether.
A Christian, and promoter of religious harmony among all faiths, Senator Adeola is a philanthropist. He is happily married to his beloved wife, Mrs. Temitope Adeola, and their union is blessed with children.
At 55, having served 22 years as a legislator at both the state and federal levels, Senator Adeola continues to set a commendable example for others. Senator Adeola is a grassroots politician and humble to a fault.
