EVINCE UHUREBOR examines the political battle between Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State and a former governor of the state, who presently represents Ogun East Senatorial District, Gbenga Daniel
On Saturday, August 9, Nigerians were jolted by headlines of a looming clash between two political heavyweights in Ogun State. The crisis started when the state government pasted a ‘Notice of Contravention’ and ‘Notice to Quit’ on the gate of Asoludero Court, the Sagamu mansion of former governor, Senator Otunba Gbenga Daniel, stirring speculations about the 2027 senatorial race in Ogun East. Within hours, Daniel’s team cried foul, branding the move a malicious and vindictive abuse of power by Governor Dapo Abiodun’s administration.
The governor’s office countered that the notices were routine steps in an urban renewal exercise, not a personal vendetta. What began as quit notices quickly escalated into court injunctions, raising deep questions about the All Progressives Congress (APC) unity, godfatherism, and long running feuds in Ogun politics. The protagonists in this unfolding drama, Daniel and Abiodun have travelled similar political paths and have been long time friends.
Daniel, a mechanical engineer by training, rose to prominence as governor of Ogun State between 2003 and 2011 under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He built a formidable grassroots network, particularly in Remo land, and later leveraged this to win a Senate seat. Abiodun, by contrast, is a wealthy industrialist who quietly rose within the All Progressives Congress (APC) and became governor in 2019.
Though Daniel later defected to the APC, hailed at the time as a coup for the ruling party, however, their relationship began to sour, with whispers from Abiodun’s camp that Daniel withheld full support during the governor’s reelection bid and even tacitly backed opposition forces in local contests. By 2023, Daniel had secured a Senate seat while Abiodun was comfortably re-elected for a second term.
But the latest rift over demolition notices underscores how far apart their political ambitions have drifted. Daniel is now seen as a dominant figure in Ogun East, sometimes acting like a political godfather in his own right. Abiodun, meanwhile, is believed to be eyeing the very Senate seat Daniel currently occupies once he completes his tenure in 2027. Whatever alliances once existed, their futures appear to be on a collision course. Initially, Abiodun backed Seyi Oduntan for the ticket before shifting his support to former Senator Lekan Mustapha.
Mustapha eventually withdrew from the primary following the intervention of the late Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, clearing the path for Daniel’s emergence as the party’s candidate. But peace never truly returned. In October 2022, Daniel defied a state APC directive, believed to have been influenced by Abiodun, that candidates should delay campaign flag-offs.
Daniel launched his campaign in Sagamu, drawing heavyweights like Wale Edun, then representing presidential candidate Bola Tinubu, and former Lagos senators Ganiu Solomon and Musiliu Obanikoro. The spark came on August 8, 2025, when officials from the Ogun State Planning and Development Permit Authority pasted contravention notices on Daniel’s Sagamu properties, including Asoludero Court and the adjoining Conference Hotel.
The documents, stamped around 4:00 p.m., cited alleged breaches under the 2022 Ogun State Urban and Regional Planning Law and gave Daniel just three days to respond or face demolition. Daniel’s media aide, Steve Oliyide, condemned the move as condemned the move as “a political witch-hunt” and an abuse of power. Daniel himself, through Oliyide’s statement pointed out that Asoludero Court was built in 2004 while he was governor and the hotel since 2013 long before the 2022 law existed.
He noted that under the cited law any penalty should have been a fine of only ₦120,000 – not instant demolition. Daniel charged that the simultaneous issuing of contravention and quit orders, with an immediate demolition threat, flouted due process and served no genuine planning purpose. He warned that “this is not a legal process; it is a thuggish tactic” clearly meant to intimidate.
In response, Governor Abiodun through a statement issued by it special Adviser on Information strategy, Kayode Akinmade, insisted that Mr Abiodun admitted responsibility for the notices but dismissed allegations of “political persecution” from Mr Daniel’s camp. “Otunba Gbenga Daniel’s building happens to be within the Sagamu GRA and among those that were served notices as required under the Town Planning Law and Regulation of Ogun State,” the statement partly read.
Yet critics pointed out the unusual timing of the notices, the short deadline over a weekend, and the fact that Daniel seemed to be the only prominent target. They recalled a similar episode in 2023, when Abiodun’s government demolished a five-storey complex (DATKEM Plaza) owned by Daniel’s wife in Ijebu-Ode, in a similarly secretive midnight raid. For many Ogun residents, the pattern felt less like neutral governance and more like selective enforcement. Daniel swiftly sought refuge in the courts.
He filed an ex-parte motion in the Ogun State High Court at Sagamu, naming the governor, attorney-general and planning authority among defendants. On August 13, Justice O.S. Oloyede granted an immediate restraining order. This order barred the state government from tampering with or demolishing “the property known as Asoludero Court” at least until the full motion for injunction is heard.
However, on August 19th, Justice Oloyede directed Senator Daniel to present his papers to the government in line with the request made to him and other residents in the area. Throughout this flap, both sides have portrayed themselves as defenders of the law and order. Daniel argued that the government was sidestepping established procedure and retroactively using a new law to punish him.
An Abuja legal expert told ThisDay that the 2022 planning law “cannot retroactively apply” to a 2004 building, invoking the legal principle of non-retroactivity. From the government’s side, officials emphasized that they had merely given Daniel’s camp due notice like every other citizen, “so why is he crying foul instead of simply complying? For analysts, the real story lay beneath the legal jargon: the notices were less about urban planning than about power. The feud soon spilled back into the party arena.
On August 29, 2025, the Ogun APC publicly suspended Daniel for alleged antiparty activities. Party spokesmen framed this as routine discipline, but many observers saw it as Abiodun’s camp flexing muscle ahead of 2027. Indeed, Daniel’s allies say his suspension was exactly “to remind Daniel and everyone else that the governor still controlled the levers of power within the APC”. In short, both the courtroom and the party structure have become battlegrounds, with each side digging in.
However, the larger battle is political with Daniel who still commands strong loyalty in Ogun East, is expected to seek re-election to the Senate in 2027. Abiodun, barred by term limits from running for governor again, is widely believed to have his eyes on the same seat.
Their rivalry, therefore, is about succession and survival within the APC. Party insiders say the friction has already deepened factionalism, with Daniel accused of lukewarm support for Abiodun’s campaigns and Abiodun’s allies questioning Daniel’s loyalty to the party. Each is now maneuvering to consolidate his base ahead of the next contest. Ogun State is no stranger to such clashes.
From the long feud between Ibikunle Amosun and his successors to earlier rivalries within the PDP, the state’s politics has often been marked by bitter quarrels between godfathers and protégés. Observers see the Daniel– Abiodun confrontation as part of this recurring pattern, where public office becomes a theatre for personal grudges. Political analyst Abayomi Mighty went further, describing the feud as “a needless power tussle” that risks undermining Ogun’s stability.
He lauded Daniel’s past achievements, including the conversion of the Tai Solarin University of Education which was founded by Daniel in 2005 into a federal institution, and accused the Abiodun administration of “executive recklessness” in demolitions as signs of regressive governance.
For many citizens, the episode is troubling not just for what it says about the state’s political culture but also for what it means for governance. Currently, Ogun faces pressing challenges from deteriorating roads and underfunded schools to rising unemployment. Opposition figures accuse Abiodun of prioritizing political survival over governance. “Ogun people are suffering,” PDP’s Ladi Adebutu charged.
“Our roads are bad, our schools underfunded, and instead of addressing these, the governor is fighting Gbenga Daniel.” However, in response, Abiodun countered: “We are building roads, investing in education and health, and opening Ogun to investors. Politics will not distract us.”
Yet, Daniel has vowed to pursue all legal remedies, while Abiodun’s team insists it will continue with its urban renewal programme. What is certain is that the demolition notices have cracked open fault lines within Ogun’s APC and with 2027 drawing nearer, the battle lines are hardening. The senator and the governor, once friends, are now adversaries in a contest that will shape not just their futures but also the direction of Ogun politics for years to come.
Multiple APC sources in Ogun East believe the demolition saga is linked to Abiodun’s determination to finally secure the senatorial seat. Twice unlucky in the past, the governor’s senatorial ambitions date back to 1997, when he won a UNCP ticket but never served due to Gen. Sani Abacha’s death. In 2015, running under APC, he lost to PDP’s Buruji Kashamu, though he initially won at the tribunal, the Court of Appeal reinstated Kashamu.
In 2019, his senatorial hopes were thwarted by then-Governor Ibikunle Amosun, prompting him to aim for the governorship instead. For 2027, Abiodun is seen as quietly building political machinery to make a third attempt. As 2027 draws nearer, the battle lines in Ogun East are hardening and demolition notice may be remembered as the spark that reignited one of the state’s fiercest political rivalries.
