Rotimi Adebari

Adebari was born 1964 in Okeodan, Ogun State, and studied economics at the University of Benin.[1] A convert from Islam to Christianity, he fled Nigeria in 2000, and made a claim for asylum on the grounds of religious persecution.[2][3] His application was rejected because of a lack of evidence that he had personally suffered persecution,[4] but he gained residency because his third child, another boy, was born in Ireland.[3]

Adebari denied claims that he was a train operator in London who worked out of the Queen's Park depot on the Bakerloo line. Adebari asserted he travelled to Ireland directly from Nigeria via Paris, and never worked or lived in London at any time.[5]

Adebari and his family settled in County Laois. Adebari completed his master's degree in intercultural studies at Dublin City University.[6][7] and set up a firm called Optimum Point Consultancy.[8]

In 2004, he was elected as a town councilor in local elections. In June 2007 he was elected as mayor of Portlaoise Town Council (9 members), with support from Fine Gael, Sinn Féin and an Independent councillor.[9] In the 2009 local elections he was re-elected to the town council and also to Laois County Council for the Portlaoise electoral area.

Adebari ran as an independent candidate in the 2011 general election for the Laois–Offaly constituency, though failed to get elected. In that election, he received 628 1st preference votes (0.85%). In 2014, Adebari lost his position as a Loais County Councilor.