Former Ogun State governor and senator representing Ogun East Senatorial District, Gbenga Daniel, has claimed that his political camp played a decisive role in bringing Governor Dapo Abiodun to power.
He insisted that without their backing, Abiodun might never have clinched the governorship.
Daniel made the declaration while marking his 70th birthday and fielding questions from journalists in his hometown, Sagamu, Ogun State.
He linked his eventual support for Abiodun’s governorship ambition to political developments within the Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party at the time.
“Without people like us and the grace of God, he probably wouldn’t have been governor,” Daniel said.
Relations between the two have since soured, with both men at loggerheads since the commencement of Abiodun’s second term.
The governor had publicly lamented that some of the National Assembly lawmakers he supported refused to back his re-election bid.
Abiodun expressed the belief that their solidarity would have guaranteed him a more commanding victory over the PDP candidate in the 2023 governorship election, Ladi Adebutu.
The governor, who hails from the same Remo zone as Adebutu, defeated his challenger by 13,915 votes despite holding the incumbency advantage.
Daniel, however, maintained that he and his team actively worked to secure Abiodun’s second term.
He also lamented what he described as a glaring failure by the governor to adequately recognise the contributions of political allies.
He urged leaders to prioritise collective interest over personal considerations, adding that he had chosen legal avenues over needless political brinksmanship wherever disputes arose.
“I think our duty as leaders is to be responsive and responsible to the expectations of the people,” he said.
“We need a mature person who appreciates that beyond ego and self-consideration, it is time to look at the collective interest of the state,” he said.
On his departure from the PDP, Daniel dismissed suggestions that he abandoned the party, insisting his political movements had always been anchored in progressive ideology.
He recalled his roots in the Alliance for Democracy and its Afenifere heritage, saying he only joined the PDP after identifying untapped potential within the platform.
“The party felt that ‘Gbenga, it’s not your turn yet,’” he recalled, adding that posterity would ultimately judge whether those who held that position were right or wrong.
Daniel described Ogun State as a “giant asleep” when he first entered the political arena.
He said his administration made deliberate investments in infrastructure, agriculture, education and sports as part of a long term blueprint for growth.
He acknowledged the enduring ideological influence of the late nationalist leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, saying his government drew inspiration from Awolowo’s democratic socialist philosophy.
Daniel also affirmed that he maintained working relationships across party lines, including with President Bola Tinubu and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
On security, he threw his weight behind the establishment of state and community police, describing the decentralisation of the country’s security architecture as long overdue.
“I believe that from the totality of what we’ve had, we need to have state police and community police. The earlier we do it, the better,” he said.
Daniel commended Tinubu’s economic reforms, particularly the removal of the fuel subsidy, which he described as an unavoidable but necessary intervention.
“Anybody who is anybody in terms of economic knowledge has come to the conclusion that subsidy is not sustainable,” he said.
Reflecting on turning 70, Daniel said gratitude to God remained his overriding emotion.
“I once wrote somewhere, ‘Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do.’ Because most of the time, from the totality of what has happened to me, that summarises my own experience,” he said.
