A former governor of Ogun State, who is now the senator for Ogun East district, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, has opened up on the real reason why he has been at loggerheads with the state’s Executive Governor, Dapo Abiodun, who was hitherto his longtime friend.
Both men were elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC and they had been friends long before Daniel served as governor of the state from 2003 to 2011. But they fell out just before the 2023 General Election, with Abiodun refusing to support Daniel’s senatorial ambition.
Abiodun had alleged that Daniel had thrown his weight behind Ladi Adebutu, his opponent in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and as such could not also support his senatorial ambition. At some point, a former governor of the state, Olusegun Osoba tried to wade in so they could sheathe their swords. His intervention worked but only for a while.
After Daniel’s win at the poll, he threw a lavish celebration party in Abuja as reported by THEWILL. At the gathering, which had quite a number of political heavy weights in attendance, Abiodun and a few politicians loyal to him were conspicuously absent, further lending credence to the fact that both men are simply not interested in reconciliation.
Well, Daniel claims that the real reason Abiodun is at war with him is because of his unflinching support for President Bola Tinubu in the APC 2023 presidential primaries. Daniel claimed he faced victimisation in the party in the state for standing with Tinubu rather than with former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Abiodun’s choice. According to him, despite the fact that he had a close relationship with Osinbajo, he, alongside some political stakeholders, agreed to support Tinubu who they considered Osinbajo’s boss, but Abiodun thought otherwise.
He also accused Abiodun of being delusional for insinuating that he (Daniel) aligned with Adebutu against him, when the reality on ground from majority of the people was to unite and support APC during the presidential election, but chose not to do so for the governorship election because of their unhappiness at the governor’s less than impressive performance during his first tenure. Daniel particularly slammed him for relying more on sycophants who fabricated stories for him rather than being aware of people’s sentiments about him.
Ivory Ukonu is a versatile journalist with many years of experience, with entertainment and society reporting as her area of core competence.
