By Tunji Wusu –
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State has refuted former Governor Gbenga Daniel’s assertions that he supported President Bola Tinubu in the party’s primaries last year.
According to the party, Mr Daniel was not a delegate to the APC national convention where the primaries were held, nor did anyone from his camp attend.
This was said by the party’s spokesperson, Olusola Blessed, in response to Mr Daniel’s statements on Sunday.
In an interview with ThisDay, Mr Daniel, the new senator for Ogun East on the APC platform, said he had a falling out with Governor Dapo Abiodun over their views on the presidential primaries.
He claimed he became the governor’s opponent because he backed President Bola Tinubu in the APC primaries.
Mr. Abiodun and the Ogun APC leadership had backed former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who is from the state, in the primaries.
It will be remembered that the party refused to participate in Mr Daniel’s senate campaign.
When Mr Daniel launched his campaign in October, the party issued an order that no party officials attend the ceremony.
In response to Mr Daniel’s Sunday accusation, Mr Blessed called the former two-term governor dishonest.
“First and foremost, the lawmaker’s antecedents in private business and power painted a picture of dishonesty, leaving many wondering how he got so close to the power corridor, to the point of becoming governor of a state like Ogun.”
According to the party, contrary to what was stated in the interview, Governor Abiodun rescued Mr Daniel from “political ignominy despite strong opposition from party members who were well aware of what he represented.”
“After his party, the PDP, lost the presidential election in 2019, his release from the political oblivion into which he threw himself out of greed became necessary.” Many people were surprised by how quickly Gbenga Daniel abandoned his principal, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and the PDP, despite his position as Director General of the Atiku Abubakar Campaign organization.”
Mr Daniel, according to the party, was an outsider during the APC presidential primary who was never a delegate or had a single delegate from Ogun State.
“Daniel, an outlier of an outsider in the APC during the presidential primaries of June 2022 who was neither a delegate nor had a single delegate from Ogun State, claimed to have supported Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu against the wishes of Governor Dapo Abiodun.” What a blatant purveyor of lies!
“To put it succinctly, unlike Senator Gbenga Daniel, Governor Abiodun, as a genuine leader and progressive, never worked against his party, APC.” To demonstrate his unwavering commitment and loyalty to the party, as soon as Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu emerged as the APC’s presidential candidate, he immediately deployed all his political mercenaries and structures to support him, resolutely resisting all the gang-up within the fold spearheaded by Gbenga Daniel and his cohorts. During the February 25 election, he easily won the State for Asiwaju Tinubu.
“This was in stark contrast to Gbenga Daniel, who criminally conspired with the PDP after allegedly receiving N2 billion from Chief Kessington Adebutu and worked against the APC and its candidates in the presidential and gubernatorial elections for filthy lucre.”
“Happily, President Tinubu understands Gbenga Daniel’s dangerous antics and what he represents in Nigeria’s political circles better than anyone else, and was alleged to have taunted him in the presence of some Senators, when he advised him to work on his reputation as a serial betrayer, but a leopard will never change its spots.”
“As a result, we implore the former governor to turn a new leaf from his now-legendary dubious political antics, acts of ingratitude and political prostitution that have dishonourably marked his political career with unparalleled notoriety and infamy over the years.” “These are truly unbecoming of a man of his age,” the statement said in part.
