Still On Gbenga Daniel And His Spin Doctors

By Ilesanmi Martins

THERE is a reason the author of “OGD vs DA: The real story untold” did not attach his name to the pile of garbage: it is pure fiction. At least if the spin doctors of Gbenga Daniel, the senator representing Ogun East and former governor of Ogun State, wish to lie, they should do so with a bit of imagination. In the piece under reference, a collection of outrageous lies that will no doubt make even Lucifer the father of lies green with envy, the author claims that Prince Dapo Abiodun’s Heyden Petroleum, a company established in 2001, arose after Gbenga Daniel asked the then private citizen to manage a state-owned oil and gas company, Gateway Oil and Gas, in 2006! He wrote about Dapo Abiodun, a well-known business mogul who once led such a distinguished organization as IPMAN in this country, as if he was writing about an unknown quantity. It is a shame when people cast any dignity aside, write for a bottle of beer, and mortgage their future for a pittance.

Ordinarily, there would have been no need to respond to desperately blatant falsehoods such as this, but we live in a society where some people believe anything, including, to go straight to the meat of this piece, the claim that Governor Dapo Abiodun is miffed by Daniel’s alleged rising profile in Ogun politics and wants to demolish his properties in order to win the Ogun East senatorial ticket! Suddenly, a sitting governor who has not told anyone that he wants to contest election in 2027 now needs to demolish his perceived opponent’s properties in order to win the 2027 senatorial ticket! It is a lunatic claim but anything is possible in the camp of land-grabbing, conscienceless politicians who feel too big to obey the law.

The trajectory of Daniel’s leadership, including the overwhelming climate of violence, oath-taking scandals and political assassinations under his administration (2003-2011) is too well known to bear any repetition here, as is the total blackout of his presence from Ogun State and its affairs while his successor, Ibikunle Amosun, held sway as governor. Today, Daniel is locked in a supremacy battle with the same man who rehabilitated him politically, saved his businesses, restored his privileges as a former governor of Ogun State, and yielded to the plea by foremost traditional rulers in Ogun State to allow him to pick the senatorial ticket that he now enjoys at the expense of the more worthy Senator Lekan Mustapha. What a tragedy. To be sure, it is futile to expect a habitual Judas to desist from treachery, and the story of Daniel’s collusion with the opposition after enjoying Abiodun’s full backing during the 2023 presidential/NASS polls is too well known to be threatened by revisionist, white-washing garbage by hack and hired writers motivated by the rustle of currency notes, and with a conscience sold to the devil.

Some people play politics with everything. If not, why is a simple request to present building papers for audit suddenly a matter of litigation and alleged 2027 politicking even when the state government opened a window to those with irregular papers to regularize them? If Governor Abiodun, who has the Ogun APC structure firmly within his control, really wants to contest the 2027 senatorial ticket, what does he need to go after Daniel, an outsider who was until a few days to his (Abiodun’s) governorship election in 2019 still a member of the PDP, for? Just how will he be demolishing houses to win primaries? Is that how to gain people's approval? What benefit will the demolition add to him politically, if this is about politics as Daniel’s camp will never cease regurgitating? No one became senator without Daniel’s input as governor, and the story was the same with Amosun. Why should it now be different?

Should Governor Abiodun prevent the Ogun State Ministry of Urban Planning from doing its work simply because Emperor Daniel is involved? Is it being suggested that because the opposition will talk, Abiodun must violate the law he swore to uphold? It is only those who cannot reason that are swallowing Daniel’s lies bait hook, line and sinker. Does anyone seriously think that if Governor Abiodun has 2027 aspirations, he needs to demolish anyone's houses to win the APC ticket? Is that how he will build acceptance among the electorate? The sanctity of government must be protected from hijack. Accountability and the rule of law must prevail.

In his desperation, the controversial senator asked Governor Abiodun to first demolish his house in Iperu before demolishing his (Daniel’s) properties. Well, the Governor built his house on private land, not government land, and he obtained the necessary papers. It is foolishness to compare apples and oranges. Dapo Abiodun did not seize government land.

The author of the garbage in question claimed that Prince Abiodun collected $3 million bribe in the name of the then President Olusegun Obasanjo, and that the former president kept quiet about it. He assumes he is addressing a kindergarten audience, for who else would have gone public with such information if not OBJ, who did not even spare his own deputy? Deliberately distorting facts will not help Daniel’s case. This is a man who, under Ibikunle Amosun, was declared persona non grata, someone who for eight years could not even visit Abeokuta, now trying to discredit his benefactor. And regarding his suspension by APC, who does not know the details of Daniel’s hobnobbing with the opposition, key members of whom are now in court, charged with vote buying and conspiracy? It is a known fact that the man being dressed in alien robes of righteousness worked against the party in 2023.

While Nigerians know how Governor Amosun fought desperately to install a successor and opposed Abiodun’s bid with every asset at his disposal, the sophist claimed that Abiodun became governor in 2019 after forming an alliance with Amosun. He even claimed that it was Abiodun who had advised Amosun to move against Daniel. Is it any surprise, then, that he would not dare to affix his name to his pile of garbage? Let Daniel obey the law and stop silly games. Period.