For almost a month now, the constant animosity between Governor Dapo Abiodun and former Governor and Senator Gbenga Daniel has been a topic of discussion across Nigeria. Many who followed their political journey, alongside Senator Amosun, will regard the trio as friends who took turns to govern Ogun State.
But what many consider friendship is merely a marriage of convenience and a relationship built on quicksand. While Daniel and Amosun seem to have mended fences after years of attacks and intimidation, that of Abiodun and Daniel is deeply rooted in more damning hatred than what the public knows.
The Back Story
In the early 90s, after the emergence of General Sani Abacha, the late general started a courting relationship with some young men across the country. These guys were nicknamed the Abacha Boys. Some of them include Ali Modu Sheriff of Borno, Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi State, James Ibori of Delta State, of course, Major Hamza al-Mustapha of the Kudirat Abiola fiasco and our own Dapo Abiodun, who, years beforehand, was indicted for credit card fraud in Miami-Dade County in Florida, United States and was forced to relocate to Nigeria.
These Abacha boys were considered as the brains behind the clampdown on NADECO and as well as the laundering of billions of dollars stolen under the Abacha regime.
When Nigeria returned to democracy following the death of Abacha, Dapo Abiodun already gained prominence in the Abuja social circle due to his membership of the Abacha Boys club. Mind you, every member of the Abacha Boys ended up as governor of their respective States later in life, but I digress.
During the first term of Obasanjo’s presidency in 1999, Dapo Abiodun had built a strong relationship in the north due to the influence of his late principal, and when the North decided to support Obasanjo against Falae in 1999, the likes of Dapo automatically offered to help.
Ogun 2003 election
After emerging as President, Olusegun Obasanjo began the move to solidify his base in the Southwest as he was facing opposition from the North, which felt he was not supposed to seek re-election based on their understanding. To achieve this solidification move, Obasanjo began showing interest in who would become the governor of Ogun State and being from Ogun State and the only ‘friend’ around him who belonged to the PDP, Chief Obasanjo chose Dapo Abiodun as his candidate.
For the 2003 governorship election, then, the aspirants were Otunba Gbenga Daniel and Colonel Shoda from Sagamu, Prince Yemi Adedulu from Ilisan, Dr. Doyin Okupe from Iperu and Dapo Abiodun also from Iperu. While Chief Obasanjo was supporting Dapo Abiodun, Chief Okupe enjoyed the support of PDP party chieftains led by late Chief Oshinrinde. Then Minister of State for Finance, Senator Jubril Martins Kuye, stood with Gbenga Daniel.
But the relationship between Dapo Abiodun and President Obasanjo suddenly turned sour. Many found the turn of events strange, but it was business mogul Chief Emeka Offor who offered the clarification.
It happened that Chief Offor was bidding for one of the Nigerian oil wells through his company, Chrome Group, and since Dapo Abiodun was considered a close ally of the president, he reached out to him. Dapo Abiodun was alleged to have told Chief Offor that President Obasanjo demanded a bribe of three million dollars ($3m) to enable Chrome get the oil bloc allocation. Unknown to Chief Offor, that demand was purely manufactured by Dapo, and while he took the money, he absconded with it. When president Obasanjo learnt of this, he cut ties with Dapo.
But Dapo was still confident of victory. Though he was the youngest amongst the contestants, he believed he had a wider reach within the presidency to pick up the ticket, and should he succeed, Obasanjo would have no choice but to support him.
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What Dapo didn’t envisage was the wild card Obasanjo played up at the end of the day.
Enters Otunba Gbenga Daniel
Far away in Lagos was a young engineer who was a member of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), a financier of NADECO and one of the pillars of support for the new governor of Lagos, Senator Tinubu. His name was Gbenga Daniel. As of 2002, Daniel must have only heard of Dapo Abiodun due to the latter’s association with Abacha. They were neither friends nor acquaintances. Dapo was on the side of Abacha while Daniel was busy supporting NADECO, finding ways to ferry some of its members who were being hunted by the military junta through the Benin Republic en route United States.
Incidentally, for Obasanjo, his first encounter with Daniel was in Lagos in 1998 when he came to seek support from successful Yoruba businessmen and intellectuals. Amongst them were Wale Edun, Chief Supo Shonibare, Gbenga Daniel and a few others I can’t remember for now. The stormy session was, however, not pleasant for the to-be president as majority of the members were pro-NADECO and felt that if anyone should be president at then, it shouldn’t be Obasanjo.
Despite the turn of the meeting, Obasanjo took a liking to Daniel, not just because of his open-minded posture during that encounter, but his pan-Yorubanism. According to Daniel, the two top candidates were Yorubas, and anyone who wins will still be of benefit to the region.
So when Obasanjo started shopping for a replacement for Dapo, he found the alternative in Daniel. This singular move ended up creating decades of hatred, backbiting and jealousy.
At the primaries in 2002, Dapo teamed up with Doyin Okupe and Colonel Shoda, having failed to get Daniel dropped from the primaries the week before.
What happened was that Dapo was alleged to have called a meeting of party chairmen across the local governments and gave them an attendance fee of N5,000 (Huge money then), but with the condition that they sign for the money in an attendance register. They all obliged.
Unfortunately for them, they woke up the next morning only to read in the papers that they had suspended Daniel and their signatures were attached. They felt shocked and betrayed.
At the primaries, Dapo made a pact with Okupe and Shoda, since what was needed to win the primary was a total score of 51% by the aspirant, and since no one could get the 51% as the contestants were four, the voting was likely to enter into a runoff. At the second round, others would rally round him, so he could defeat Daniel. Unfortunately for him, Daniel won the primary on the first ballot with more than the 51% mark required.
But Dapo’s unpopularity amongst the people of Remo and Ijebu was his own doing. At every interval he contests for public office and loses, he sends militias against people he purportedly gave money to, communities he donated transformers to, and individuals he gave empowerment, retrieving his gifts and money with force. These acts reoccurred at every run for his Senate.
After becoming governor, Daniel appointed Dapo Abiodun as the Chairman, ‘Ogun State Oil & Gas Committee’ in 2009, a state-owned petroleum company with filling stations across the state and a Licence to lift oil in 2006. Dapo himself confirmed this appointment in his inauguration brochure in 2019. It is believed that it was from this venture that Dapo Abiodun built his Heyden Oil and Gas.
When Amosun became governor in 2011, Dapo found a new ally in Amosun. He told Amosun that for him to have a firm grip of the state, Daniel must not be allowed to have a free reign. As Amosun would later confess, the attempt to demolish Daniel’s father’s church in Sagamu, the Asoludero residence, as well as the locking of the Conference Hotel in Abeokuta, were all engineered and advised by his then-friend Dapo Abiodun. He disclosed that it was Abiodun that also drove Dangote out of Ogun State as the Chairman of Olokola Free Trade Zone when he decided to renegotiate the terms of contract signed between the State and Dangote and the Daniel administration.
Taking from the Maradona skill of Abacha, Abiodun ran to Daniel in 2019 to support his governorship ambition, leveraging on the soiled relationship between Daniel and Amosun, which he engineered. But while Daniel simply felt he was helping a friend, Dapo had other plans.
The first taste of what Dapo had in plan was felt by Daniel when he requested Dapo to reinstate the C of O to his properties revoked by Amosun (remember it was Dapo’s idea in the first place), which the court has upturned, Dapo refused. Secondly, he met with him to compensate some of his political supporters who worked for him during the election, Dapo refused. So Daniel kept to himself.
Trouble started in 2022 when Daniel decided it was time for him to give the Senate seat a shot. This was the first time he was contesting for public office after 11 years of being out of power. He approached Dapo for support in this bid. Not only did Dapo refused, he gave a standing instruction to the leadership of the party in the state not to support him. Civil and public servants who attended Daniel’s rallies were issued queries and sacked.
Unfortunately for Dapo, the national leadership of the party decided to take over the conduct of the primaries. At the Itoro Hall in Ijebu Ode, where the primary was being held, Dapo was given a security report. After delegates from five local governments already voted, he got intelligence that Daniel was coasting to victory. To save face, he ran to the late Awujale to call for a peace meeting. It was at this peace meeting he conceded the ticket to Daniel, who would have naturally won should the voting be allowed to go on.
The truth of the matter is that Dapo’s political career has always been in Abuja. The network and connections he has built all his life have been in Abuja, and he has a long dream of retiring there. The Senate offers this opportunity. This is why he has always contested and struggled to be in the Senate.
He understands that Daniel’s continuous influence in his Senatorial district is a threat to his long-held dream. He may have been caught unawares in 2002; this time, he won’t give anything to chance. Daniel must either throw in the towel and surrender to his leadership or be ready to face the consequences.
The demolition of his wife’s building in Ijebu Ode, the threat to demolish his hotels and residence, which was stopped after calls from the presidency, the Facebook suspension from APC, as well as the planned recall process from the Senate, are part of the scheme to cut Daniel to size.
If he failed in 2002, Dapo, with the state security apparatus at his beck and call, has no plan to fail in 2025. Daniel must fall no matter what!
Culled from Facebook
