Former Ogun State governor and current Ogun East Senator, Gbenga Daniel, has challenged Governor Dapo Abiodun to a live television debate over the growing political crisis surrounding the 2027 Ogun East senatorial contest.
Daniel threw the challenge during an appearance on TVC’s Beyond The Headlines on Thursday, insisting that any refusal by Abiodun to participate would amount to an admission of defeat.
According to the senator, the debate would provide an opportunity for both leaders to address the issues fueling tensions within the Ogun State chapter of the APC ahead of the next general election.
“This is an open invitation. If he refuses to come, then my conclusion will be that he ran away from the debate,” Daniel said during the interview.
The former governor also urged the programme’s host to quickly arrange the face-off, stressing that the public deserved to hear directly from both politicians.
Daniel and Abiodun have been locked in a political disagreement in recent weeks following the endorsement of the governor as the preferred APC candidate for the Ogun East Senate seat in 2027.
The endorsement, announced by some APC stakeholders in April, has been strongly opposed by Daniel, who insisted that the ticket should emerge through an open and transparent primary election process.
During the interview, Daniel accused the governor of crossing political boundaries and warned that his administration was nearing its end.
Addressing Abiodun directly, he said the governor would soon become a former officeholder and claimed he had earlier warned him about certain political allies who could negatively affect his administration.
“There are some lines you don’t cross in politics,” Daniel stated.
The TVC presenter confirmed that the station would officially invite Governor Abiodun for the proposed debate and reserved a seat for him on the programme.
As of the time of filing this report, neither the Ogun State Government nor Abiodun’s media team had responded publicly to the challenge.
Governor Abiodun is currently serving his second and final term in office and cannot seek re-election in 2027. The Ogun East Senate seat is widely believed to be his next political target.
Daniel, who currently represents the district in the Senate, has repeatedly described the move against him as political betrayal, maintaining that he played a major role in Abiodun’s rise to power.
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