Ahead of the
2019 gubernatorial election, reporting from the
TheCable detailed the alleged falsification of Abiodun's certificates by noting the discrepancies between Abiodun's sworn documentation from his Senate candidacy in 2015, the sworn documentation from gubernatorial candidacy, and his company website bio. The discrepancies put Abiodun's eligibility under question, as doubts about if Abiodun had completed the mandatory year of
National Youth Service Corps service led to legal challenges to his candidacy. In his defense, Abiodun stated that he had never claimed to finish his degree at the
Obafemi Awolowo University and attempted to dismiss the controversy as political "mudslinging." Nevertheless, the challenges to Abiodun's candidacy continued after the election with tribunal proceedings largely dominated by attempts to contest the veracity of Abiodun's documentation. In its ruling affirming Abiodun's victory, the tribunal stated that the petitions failed to prove that Abiodun had committed certificate fraud. As a result of the
Pandora Papers leaks, the
Premium Times reported on Abiodun's involvement in two offshore companies known tax haven, the
British Virgin Islands. The report noted that Abiodun owned and was the sole director of both Marlowes Trading Corporation and Heyden Petroleum Limited in apparent violation of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act as neither company was declared when Abiodun was elected governor. Abiodun himself avoided questions on the topic but an associate of Abiodun claimed that the governor had meant to dissolve the companies but didn't notice that they had not been dissolved yet. In 2022,
Sahara Reporters published the criminal record of Abiodun's arrested in 1986 for credit card fraud, petty theft, and check forgery in addition to injuring a police officer in an attempt to resist arrest in
Miami-Dade County in the
United States under the pseudonym "Shawn Michael Davids." Although the arrest had been previously exposed — with it being included in the challenge to Abiodun's candidacy in 2019 – however, the documentation had not been released publicly. Abiodun allies and lawyers claimed that the arrest could not impact his eligibility to run for office. == Awards ==