Former Ogun State governor and Senator representing Ogun East, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, has rejected claims by Governor Dapo Abiodun that he benefited from his political structure in the 2003 governorship election and the 2023 senatorial contest.
Abiodun had said he handed over his structure to Daniel during the 2003 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship race and also played a decisive role in securing his senatorial ticket and victory in 2023.
The Eagle Online reported that Abiodun, speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting on Tuesday, said he was instrumental to Daniel’s emergence as governor in 2003 and his election into the Senate on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2023.
He added that he supported Daniel’s political rise but received “negative publicity and media attacks” in return.
But Daniel, in a statement issued by his media team on Wednesday, dismissed the claims as false and a distortion of history.
The statement said: “At that critical moment, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, then a PDP chieftain, was approached to support Mr. Abiodun.
“He heeded the call, placing the future and development of Ogun State above partisan considerations, especially as the PDP itself was entangled in a debilitating legal crisis over its governorship candidacy.
“OGD did not only mobilised his political structure in support of Mr. Abiodun, he also publicly raised his hand in a symbolic show of acceptance before thousands of supporters and members of the media.”
The camp insisted Daniel’s electoral victories were based on grassroots support and political mobilisation.
On the 2023 senatorial election, the statement said: “It must be clearly stated that Senator Otunba Gbenga Daniel won the Ogun East Senatorial election on the strength of his name, his legacy, and the overwhelming support and goodwill of his people.
“He remains one of the most consequential political figures Ogun State has ever produced.
“The suggestion that his emergence as senator was a product of Governor Abiodun’s backstage choreography is not only false, it is an insult to every voter in Ogun East Senatorial District who participated in that election.”
It also rejected claims that Abiodun influenced the APC primaries.
The statement said: “No frontrunners left to persuade, only a result to accept.
“A man who arrives after the contest to claim credit for its outcome is not a kingmaker; he is a latecomer attempting to rewrite history.”
Daniel’s team said he toured all 103 wards in Ogun East and held rallies across the nine local government areas during the campaign.
It added: “Governor Dapo Abiodun, despite his claims of support, did not attend any of these campaign programmes.
“We stand to be corrected with verifiable proof to the contrary.”
The statement further questioned the governor’s claim of political structure.
It said: “We now ask the Governor directly: which structure did he hand over to Senator Daniel?
“The same structure that failed to deliver even in his own ward and polling unit barely two weeks after the presidential election, despite the full weight of state machinery?”
Daniel’s camp described his 2023 victory as clear and uncontested.
It said: “Senator Daniel’s victory in the 2023 general election was unprecedented in Ogun State’s senatorial history.
“The margin was historic, the mandate unambiguous.
“According to INEC records, it remains one of the very few senatorial outcomes in the state that was not contested at the election tribunal.
“Not a single petition. No dispute. The people spoke with unmistakable clarity.”
The statement criticised what it described as political manoeuvring.
It said: “So far, the Governor has relied on backroom arrangements, forced consensus, and closed-door manoeuvring to advance his political ambitions.
“A man truly confident in his structure does not need such tactics.”
On governance, the media team added: “The Governor would do better to address the substance of public concerns rather than attributing every critical report to political opponents.
