The suspension of former Ogun State governor and senator representing Ogun East, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, from the All Progressives Congress (APC) has continued to stir controversy as his media aide, Steve Oliyide, described Governor Dapo Abiodun as a “budding emperor” bent on frustrating his principal out of the party.
Speaking on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese Ijebu, on Tuesday, Oliyide dismissed the suspension as baseless and politically orchestrated.
He maintained that Daniel remains a bona fide member of the APC, faulting media houses that carried the report.
“I’m surprised at the media houses that published the news. There was no such office as the director of media and publicity. We know of the state publicity secretary, which the late Tunde Oladunjoye held. This office only exists in the office of the Secretary to the State Government of Ogun State. One individual just ascribed the title to himself and announced the suspension of Gbenga Daniel. Do you announce someone of the calibre of OGD on Facebook? Where are the letters to that effect? What are the allegations? Anti-party activities? Anything can be interpreted as anti-party. As I speak to you, there is no such letter,” Oliyide said.
Recall that the suspension was confirmed in a statement issued on Tuesday, 19th, 2025, by the party’s Director of Publicity, Nuberu Olufemi, after a meeting of the State Working Committee (SWC) presided over by the state chairman, Yemi Sanusi.
According to the statement, Daniel and his associate, Kunle Folarin, both from Sagamu Ward 4 and Ward 6 respectively, were sanctioned after disciplinary committees indicted them for alleged gross misconduct and anti-party activities.
But Oliyide alleged that the suspension was a ploy ahead of Governor Abiodun’s rumoured 2027 senatorial ambition.
“Honestly, initially we were speculating, but as things unfold, we now see that everything points to the fact that they want to get this man out. It is the people that don’t want him and they want to frustrate him out of the party. All the scripts, demolition of houses, suspension; they are toward a singular end: get OGD out of the party, frustrate him out of the party. We are saying that it is not possible,” he said.
He also faulted claims that Daniel distanced himself from the recent Remo Federal Constituency by-election.
According to him, the senator was sidelined by the governor’s campaign committee. “The question should be put to the governor who constituted a committee for the campaign. They should be able to explain the rationale where they are conducting a bye-election within a senatorial district where a serving senator, two-time governor of Ogun State, was never considered part of it. What if he had gone to the rallies and he had been booed, stoned, attacked?”
Oliyide stressed that Daniel supported the APC candidate, Adesola Ayoola-Elegbeji, during the election. “He personally recorded with his own image where he endorsed the candidate of the party. He gave money to the campaign council and to the National Assembly caucus. What else do they expect from him? At what time did he ever tell anyone not to vote for our candidate?” he queried.
Highlighting his principal’s achievements, Oliyide noted that Daniel had sponsored “19 bills and 3 motions as a first-timer, achievements even those who have spent years in the NASS never recorded.”
He listed interventions such as empowerment of over 4,464 constituents, eye-care services for 2,600 residents, a completed market in Igando, Sagamu, and the TETFUND listing for Abraham Adesanya Polytechnic.
According to him, instead of supporting these efforts, the Ogun State government had sought to downplay them. “Each time OGD had gotten a project into the federal budget, the next thing you see is the state government swiftly putting a signboard to claim the same project. That Ayepe road was in the federal budget of 2025. Look at the Naval base OGD attracted to Ijebu Waterside, the next thing you know, the governor is talking about selling the land. Instead of complementing federal projects, the governor competes with them,” he alleged.
On demolitions, Oliyide accused the governor of weaponising state power against political rivals. Referring to the 2023 demolition of Datkem Plaza in Ijebu Ode, owned by Daniel’s wife, he said: “As I speak to you, in Ogun State High Court, there is already an injunction. Any other thing done outside that is… because we are going to take every legal step to challenge what we know as illegality. All these extensions are an afterthought to cover shame. I want them to come on air to quote the section of the constitution that speaks to demolition in the manner in which they are saying.”
He added: “In Abeokuta, Sen. Amosun’s house in Ibara was marked for demolition. Amosun simply went to court. He is also bleeding, but he is not saying much. Meanwhile, the governor’s own property, already marked for demolition, has never been touched. We have to resist a budding emperor.”
Oliyide tied the current rift to a long history of political rivalry in the state. “According to Oliyede, Governor Dapo Abiodun was the unseen hand of the Ibikunle Amosun-led administration. What is the relationship between Amosun and Abiodun? How toxic is it? There is a constant factor in all these conflicts, that is the present governor of Ogun State. During the eight years of Amosun, the unseen hand is Dapo Abiodun. It is not like you are fighting A, B, C, it is just a singular hand. The hatred started since 2002 when OGD won the primaries with Dapo Abiodun coming second,” he revealed.
Despite the heated exchanges, Oliyide maintained that Daniel would not dump the APC. “The playbook to frustrate OGD is a failed project. APC will not break, and OGD will not leave the party. When we get to the river, we will cross it,” he said.
On President Bola Tinubu’s role in the matter, he remarked: “The president is a very busy man. Obviously he is aware. He has intervened. It is his intervention that has birthed this desperation by the governor. The governor is chasing the president around, practically leaving governance in Ogun State to the SSG while playing politics.”
