DAUD OLATUNJI writes that if the war of words between their aides is anything to go by, the relationship between the Ogun Governor, Dapo Abiodun and the Senator-elect, Gbenga Daniel, may be heading for the rock

A serious political crisis is brewing in the All Progressives Congress in Ogun State as aides of the state Governor, Dapo Abiodun, and former governor Gbenga Daniel, disagreed over alleged anti-party activities during the last elections in the state.

The Independent National Electoral Commission declared Abiodun, who ran on the platform of the APC, winner of the March 18 governorship election in the state after polling 276,298 votes.

Abiodun emerged as the governor-elect after he defeated the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Oladipupo Adebutu, who polled 262,383 votes.

But the performance of the APC in the Ogun East Senatorial District, where the governor hails from, was abysmal as the governor lost his local government, Ikenne, as well as the Remo-North to Adebutu.

This development angered some aides and loyalists of Abiodun, who accused the former governor  and senator-elect for the Ogun East of secretly working against the party.

The media aide to Abiodun on Digital Media, Emmanuel Ojo, shared some write-ups concerning the allegations on his Facebook.

The write-ups included the one by a social commentator, Tunde Salako. The article was titled “Ogun Governorship Election: OGD hiding behind the Needle.”

According to Salako, who claims to come from Imeko, Ogun State, the most intriguing thing in the election was the direct connivance of some bigwigs within the state APC with some elements in the PDP.

He said, “For instance, Steve Oliyide, an aide to former Governor Gbenga Daniel, has consistently maintained a visible media presence, giving all manners of reasons why his boss emerged as the most popular candidate for his senatorial district on the platform of the APC.

 “Among his recently published articles against the victorious governor was the one he titled: “Why Dapo Abiodun did not win Ogun State elections?”

“ He has confirmed the well-known fact that Gbenga Daniel actually worked for the PDP against Governor Dapo Abiodun. The truth of the matter is that right from the outset, Daniel has been a mole in the APC working for the PDP but Governor Abiodun appears to be too trusting and unsuspecting of his sinister motive.

“From the time he joined the APC, there has been a game plan to use the machinery of the party to work for the PDP, while also pursuing his Ogun East senatorial ambition.

“In the scheming, Daniel was projecting toward a return to the Senate in 2027. Part of the deal is to defect back to the PDP in the event that Adebutu wins the governorship election. But he got the sums wrong. Adebutu did not win and he cannot win at the tribunal.”

He alleged that Abiodun more or less rehabilitated Daniel with the senatorial ticket.

Reacting to the allegations against his boss, the media aide to Daniel, Oliyide, described some of the write-ups against the former governor as being written with pseudo names.

Oliyide said, “OGD cannot be reacting to faceless characters like these. Until when any of the government’s people can be bold enough to voice some of these things, it is like honouring hearsay.

“We shall not allow unconscionable revisionists to get away with their lies.”

He, however, refuted the allegations, saying, “It is gross impudence to suggest that anyone including the governor rehabilitated Daniel with a senatorial ticket!!!

“..the same Daniel who rejected the ticket as a sitting governor in 2011, insisting the party (PDP) must do the right thing by retaining GNI (Gboyega Nasir Isiaka) as governorship candidate having won primaries fair and square? The same Daniel rejected a senatorial offer from Buruji (the late Buruji Kasamu of the PDP) in 2015 and 2019.

“A Daniel who spent a fortune reawakening the APC through his ward tours with massive empowerment!!!

“There was never a time that OGD left Ogun State. He was busy with the activities of Gateway Front Foundation (Empowering people) and the Political Academy (imparting knowledge), both non-profit organisations and looking after Kresta Laurel operations and got busy with the construction which is his main hobby. OGD in or out of office remains a very busy man.

“He was listed as one of the first 50 fascinating businessmen in Nigeria in 1989 over 30 years ago!!!! This (the allegation) can only be the height of ignorance and outright mischief.”

Reacting to the allegation that Daniel worked against Abiodun’s re-election, Oliyide challenged the governor’s men to prove the allegation.

He said, “I asked them if there are any recorded messages, intercepted text, meetings attended by anyone where he directed his followers not to vote for DA; I asked them if the governor called OGD that he needed his help. I said if DA believes he is the brand that people are voting for in Ogun State, the result of the election has proven his level of popularity.”

He, however, said that Daniel had no hand in his statement that attacked Abiodun, saying, “Many people are alluding to my writing as OGD’s instructions and am I not old enough to hold an independent view?

 Speaking on how Abiodun helped Daniel to save his business and political career, Salako in the write-up, regretted that the current Senator from Ogun East, Senator Lekan Mustapha, was asked to step down for Daniel during the party primary.

Salako also said, “Abiodun would also wish he had not untied some of the traps his predecessor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, set before Daniel. A good case in point is the Conference Hotel located along Ibrahim Babangida Boulevard, Oke-Mosan, owned by Daniel.

“On the day of the commissioning attended by the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, through the influence of the governor, the public did not know that the EFCC operatives actually stormed the venue.

“It took the intervention of the governor to persuade the EFCC to vacate the premises so that the Vice-President and other dignitaries present would not be embarrassed.

“Not only that, OGD was declared ‘persona non-grata’ who could not walk freely on the roads of the state capital, Abeokuta, for eight years.

“His investments across the state were shut down. Not spared was the partial demolition of the “Abraham Tabernacle” structure under the guise of road expansion by the previous administration whose helmsman the same Daniel is now hobnobbing clandestinely with.

“Without prejudice, Abiodun recently took up the responsibility and reconstructed the abandoned Oba Erinwole road, which also leads to “Asoludero Court”, the home of OGD, to ease the flow of traffic and also serves as an alternative route linking Ikorodu (Lagos State).”

Responding to these claims, Daniel’s media aide said contrary to the claim, the EFCC did not seal the hotel, but, was occupied by agents of the former governor Amosun.

Oliyide said, “The hotel was never sealed by the EFCC, but was illegally occupied by the agents of the former governor who had since reconciled with OGD.

“Quite on the contrary, the current governor has failed to revalidate the documentation after four years in office. People should draw their conclusion on who is actually the bad person.

“DA (Dapo Abiodun) did not facilitate the attendance of the Vice-President to honour the grand opening of the hotel in 2019. The relationship between OGD and the VP dates back nearly 50 years ago when both were students at the University of Lagos.

“One of the first outings of the VP when he assumed office was the 25th Anniversary of Kresta Laurel Limited in 2016 at the Lagos Oriental Hotel many years before DA became the Governor. Just facts. No opinion.

“The Abraham Tabernacle is an Ecumenical Church donated to the community and now being managed by The Nigerian Baptist Convention. Partial demolition was in error based on wrong information and the perpetrators have since asked for God’s forgiveness. This is the fact.”

When contacted to confirm if he still stood by all the write-ups, which were still on his Facebook and Twitter handles as of 3 pm on Thursday, the Special Assistant to the Governor on Digital Media, Ojo declined to comment.

When contacted on the phone, as soon as our correspondent asked for his views on the write-ups and the identity of Salako, the media did not respond.

Messages sent to him through WhatsApp which showed that they were read, were also not responded to.

But Oliyide confirmed his write-ups against the governor, but he denied writing them on the instruction of his boss

When asked to comment on the development, the Chief Press Secretary to Abiodun, Kunle Somorin, initially referred our correspondent to the party’s spokesman.

Somorin said, “ Oladunjoye is your surest bet. I don’t have briefs on the APC and politics. Whatever Oladunjoye says should suffice.”

He however sent a statement which contained Abiodun’s reaction after his victory at the tough governorship election.

The statement read, “The governor had on Tuesday, March 20 when he returned to a heroic welcome at Iperu-Remo said, ‘This election has shown that man will always be man and God will forever remain God. In the course of this election, people we thought were our friends betrayed us, people stabbed us in the back, and many disappointed us.

“I know that even those who called themselves our friends did not vote for us, but that does not matter anymore because the elections have come and gone, and God has given us victory. But we should not be surprised because even in the Bible, our Lord Jesus Christ was betrayed despite all the good things that he did.’’

When asked for the party’s view on the looming crisis and alleged anti-party activities of Daniel, the Publicity Secretary of the APC in the state, Tunde Oladunjoye, said, “Your questions are premature. We will cross the bridge when we get there.”

He also said, “ We do not wish to comment on this issue now.”

A loyalist of Amosun, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the claim by Daniel’s aide that his boss had reconciled with the former governor.