Adewole Ebenezer Adebayo

Adebayo was born in Ondo City, Ondo State, on January 8, 1972. He is a member of the Ondo royal family whose family trace their lineage back to 1510.

Between 1978 and 1983, he attended St. Stephen Primary School in Ondo. From 1983 to 1989, he attended St. Joseph College in Ondo. From 1991 to 1997, he attended Obafemi Awolowo University, where he earned a law degree. He was admitted to the Nigerian Bar in 2000 after graduating from the Nigerian Law School in Lagos and passing his bar exams. Adebayo later attended law school in the United States of America, where he passed the New York Bar Exams.

Adebayo began his legal career as a litigation lawyer at Tunji Abayomi and Co. in Lagos, Nigeria. After two years of legal practice, he founded his own law firm, Adewole Adebayo & Co., House of Law, in 2002. The firm has earned recognition from the International Financial Law Firm Review (IFLR).

One of the cases handled by his law firm in Nigeria was the case between Femi Falana and the Federal Government, in which Femi Falana (SAN) contested the constitutionality of the contract between the Ministry of Interior, the Nigeria Immigration Service, and Continental Transfert Technique Limited for the collection of Combined Expatriate and Residence Permit Aliens Card (CERPAC) fees. Adebayo represented Continental Transfert Technique Limited in the case.

In 2006, he was appointed by the United Nations and the Economic Community of West African States as a Commissioner on Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Adebayo is listed by the State Bar of California as an active attorney. Public attorney data also identifies an Adewole Ebenezer Adebayo registered in New York. He is listed in the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators member directory as a Fellow, with Nigeria as his primary branch.

Adebayo became involved in politics in the early 1990s when he joined the SDP as a student, remaining committed to the party ever since. He has been involved in political advocacy, and is a frequent public affairs commentator on national issues, particularly on governance, security, and corruption issues in Nigeria.

Adebayo contested the 2023 Nigerian general election as a presidential candidate for the Social Democratic Party (Nigeria). In May 2026, he was returned unopposed as the SDP's presidential candidate for the 2027 Nigerian general election following the SDP's convention.