… Ex Gov Amosun Excited
With just few months to the primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) towards the fast approaching 2023 general elections, what could be termed a silent war is currently brewing between the two leading political gladiators in Ogun State; ex-governor Gbenga Daniel aka OGD and the incumbent Governor Dapo Abiodun.
Recall that it took the concerted effort of the likes of OGD and other top political heavy weights in the state for Governor Dapo Abiodun to defeat the governorship candidate of former governor Ibikunle Amosun under the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Hon. Abdulkabir Akinlade in the 2019 elections.
But three years down the line, it appears the chicken has gone home to roost and Abiodun and OGD are preparing for a serious electoral showdown in the countdown to the 2023 general elections.
While OGD has since launched a campaign to go to the senate in 2023 under the APC to represent Ogun East Senatorial District, Governor Dapo Abiodun, who is seeking a second term in office, appears not to be in support of the move.
Sources revealed that the plan of Governor Abiodun is to sponsor a lightweight politician to the senate in 2023 from Ogun East Senatorial District, where he also hails from as an indigene of Iperu Remo, who he believes would easily step down for him after his second term in 2027, when he plans to move to the senate.
This scenario, sources said, has become a source of excitement to the camp of former governor Ibikunle Amosun, who believes that it was the combination of Abiodun and OGD that caused the defeat of his candidate in the 2019 governorship election in the state.
Thus, Amosun is eagerly waiting on the sideline to see the end of the Daniel vs Abiodun’s ‘season film’
The attitude of Governor Abiodun to the Senatorial ambition of OGD was said to have surprised the associates of the latter, who had looked forward to an automatic support from him as a mark of appreciation for their (OGD’s team) support for Abiodun’s 2019 governorship ambition that eventually took him to Oke Mosan Government House.
“The fear of Governor Abiodun is that OGD would block his own Senatorial ambition in 2027 as he (OGD) would not easily step down for him to realise his senatorial ambition at that time.
“But that seems to be a surprise to us because this is a man that should be campaigning for his second term in office. Even if he wins the primary election easily, what of the general election.
“Abiodun needs the support of OGD, which could fetch him about 90% votes in Ogun East, while Senator Solomon Adeola Olamilekan (Yayi), who wants to vie for Senate in Ogun West would get a minimum of 80% votes in the Yewa/Aworis enclave would, and then there is no way he would not get something from Ogun Central despite the clout of Senator Amosun in the area,” said a source.
The source maintained that OGD would never agree to jettison his senatorial ambition, which he has since launched in Shagamu and Odogbolu area of Ijebu where he has already built one of the biggest campaign centers in the state.
According to an informant, OGD is ready for a fight to finish and face whoever the Governor is sponsoring for the post, as well as the incumbent Senator Lekan Mustapha from the district and other likely aspirants at the primaries.
The camp of OGD was said to have insisted that there was no way consensus would work if that is the option Governor Abiodun wants to consider during the primaries “to impose his candidate on us from the senatorial district.”
A member of the camp noted that the newly signed Electoral Amendment Law states that other aspirants must give their written consent if they wanted a consensus, and that anything contrary to that would lead to primary election.
We were further informed that it would be impossible for any aspirant to defeat OGD at the primaries, and that even Senator Lekan Mustapha, who is currently representing Ogun East, and who is in the camp of ex-governor Amosun, cannot match the popularity of the Shagamu-born politician.
“Abiodun seems not to understand that he is putting his second term at a great risk if he picks up a fight with Daniel at this period.
“Why can’t Abiodun be talking of second term as Governor then other things can follow afterwards.
“Let us see how it goes, you cannot eat your cake and have it. He should work with OGD to get a second term and support him for the senate,” said a source, who added that the Governor “has bitten the hands that fed him.”
Sources close to the Governor however, denied the allegation, saying that OGD is causing a lot of problems for Dapo Abiodun and that it was the Awujale of Ijebu land that doesn’t want OGD as a Senator and not Gov Dapo Abiodun, and that it is unlikely that Dapo would not give backing to the senatorial ambition of the former governor, who they said he sees as a mentor.
They stated that Governor Dapo Abiodun would not do anything that would hurt his benefactor, and that “when we get to the river, we will cross it.”
