EXCLUSIVE: How APC’s Gbenga Daniel worked for PDP in Ogun by-election

 Gbenga Daniel, senator representing  Ogun east, asked his supporters to vote for Bolarinwa Oluwole, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the August 16 by-election in Ogun state, TheCable can report. 

The by-election in the Ikenne/Sagamu/Remo north federal constituency of Ogun was conducted to fill the vacant seat left by the death of Adewunmi Onanuga in January.

Days before the poll, Daniel instructed his loyalists via WhatsApp messages seen by TheCable to “mobilise all our people” to back Oluwole over Adesola Elegbeji, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate.

An insider said Daniel, who was out of the country at the time, instructed his allies to back the PDP just as they had done in the previous election, promising to give them full support upon his return.

“Please mobilise all our people to vote the same way as before. I will support, as always — PDP,” he said in the WhatsApp message which he later deleted and blamed on AI when he was confronted by APC leaders.

Sources said that apart from his own election, Daniel quietly backed the PDP during the 2023 governorship poll, working against the APC despite being one of its most prominent figures in Ogun.

According to insiders, APC leaders in Ogun who got wind of Daniel’s instruction to his supporters ahead of the by-election were alarmed, describing it as a clear case of his “consistent betrayal” of the party.

On August 17, a day after the bye-election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Adesola Elegbeji of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner of the poll.

Elegbeji  polled 41,237 votes to defeat Oluwole, who garnered 14,324 votes

SUSPENSION FOLLOWS ‘BETRAYAL’

On August 19, three days after the by-election, the APC in Ogun suspended Daniel, alongside Kunle Folarin, one of his loyalists, indefinitely over alleged anti-party affairs.

The Ogun APC stated that Ward 4 in Sagamu LGA set up a disciplinary committee to investigate Daniel over alleged misconduct, adding that the former governor was invited to appear before the panel to defend himself but failed to do so.

“Both members failed to respond to the invitations extended to them in writing, were unable to provide a written defence, and failed to attend the disciplinary meetings at which they were to be allowed to defend themselves,” the party said in a statement.

TheCable reached out to the senator for comment, but he neither answered calls nor replied to text messages.

There have been rumours of a simmering feud between Daniel and Dapo Abiodun, the incumbent governor of the state.

The decision of the Ogun state government to mark the hotel and residence linked to the senator for demolition added another layer to the alleged rift.

Daniel was governor of Ogun from 2003 to 2011 on the platform of the PDP. He was elected senator in 2023 after he defected to the APC.