- The senator was said to have intentionally boycotted the by-election campaign of the party even when the National Chairman of the party, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, visited the state to lead the campaign.
Fresh information has come to light regarding the suspension of Senator representing Ogun East in the National Assembly, Gbenga Daniel, by the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Recall that the senator, who is also the former governor of the state, was recently suspended by the party.
His suspension also came amid a running battle with the state government over the citing of his house and hotel in the Sagamu area of the state, which the state government purported that it violated building code.
The sources familiar with his political ordeal said he was suspended for a series of anti-party actions against the party beginning from the 2023 general elections and right up to the recent House of Representatives by-election in Remo.
The senator’s suspension by the leadership of Ward 4, Sagamu Local Government Area, was ratified by the State Working Committee (SWC), last week, at a meeting presided over by the chairman of the party in the state, Chief Yemi Sanusi.
According to the Vanguard, the senator was said to have intentionally boycotted the by-election campaign of the party even when the National Chairman of the party, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, visited the state to lead the campaign.
Source familiar with the matter said he directed his supporter vote in the Saturday, August 17 election like they did “last time,” a reference to the March 18, 2023, governorship election during which he mobilised his supporters to vote for the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon Kessington Adebutu, after he struck a deal the then candidate.
His actions were said to have infuriated the leadership of the party, who felt the senator was backstabbing the party by working against it after enjoying rare privileges since joining the party.
The leadership was also aghast by the allegation that Daniel and his side began threatening the leadership of Ward 4 after an invitation was extended to him to respond to the claims against him.
The genesis of the saga can be traced to the traditional rulers in the state, led by the late Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba (Dr) Sikiru Adetona, who appealed to Governor Dapo Abiodun to back Daniel’s senatorial bid and persuade the then incumbent senator, Lekan Mustapha, to relinquish the ticket to Daniel.
Immediately Daniel got the ticket, however, he was said to have turned against the governor, reasoning that if he stopped the governor from winning his re-election battle, that would put him in a vantage position to secure the Ogun East re-election ticket in 2027, since he and the governor are from the same senatorial district.
In actualising this, the senator allegedly struck a deal with the camp of Adebutu following his victory at the senatorial election