September 16, (THEWILL) – It doesn’t look like the feud between former Ogun State governor, Senator Gbenga Daniel and the incumbent, Dapo Abiodun, will end soon. They have taken their dispute to such a different level that both may not be able to recover from, with Abiodun’s demolition of a five-storey building named DATKEM Plaza, allegedly valued at N1 billion and belonging to Daniel’s wife, Yeye Olufunke, last weekend.
While Yeye Olufunke has vowed not to take it lightly with Governor Abiodun, the state government responded that neither she nor her husband were above the law when it comes to getting sanctioned for flouting the laws of the state. According to the aggrieved victim, the Ogun State Planning and Development Authority had on August 1 sealed the building without prior notice. The management of the complex on August 2, applied for the unsealing and regularisation of the building after paying the mandatory fee of N500,000 to the state government. But again on August 31, a quit notice was served on the building, asking the owners to vacate the premises within three days. While that was still on, on Sunday September 10, the state government went ahead to demolish the complex, ignoring an ongoing legal process. Explaining its own side of the story, the state government claimed the plaza is an illegal structure without an approved plan, contravened the state’s physical planning laws and violated the building codes of the state with numerous defects. They claimed that several efforts made by them to halt further development on site were ignored by the developers. Government officials requested the structural engineer in charge of the building to avail the state of the structural equilibrium of the building, a request they say was ignored. This prompted the building to be brought down. Meanwhile, an Ogun State High Court sitting in Ijebu-Ode where the building is situated has granted an order asking the state government to maintain status quo and stay off the property.
Findings by THEWILL reveal that the demolition of the building may not be unconnected to Abiodun’s unabated anger at Daniel who allegedly worked against his second term ambition as governor. Recall that this newspaper had reported how the former friends have been at each other’s throats particularly in the last two years. But just before the last general election, it got worse.
At a point, a former governor of the state, Olusegun Osoba tried to persuade them to sheath their warring swords. His intervention worked but only for a while. Abiodun refused to support Daniel’s senatorial ambition, alleging that Daniel had thrown his weight behind Ladi Adebutu, his opponent in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and as such could not also support his senatorial ambition. Besides, Abiodun reasoned that if Daniel gets a senatorial ticket, he would undoubtedly want to have a go at the Senate a second time and not step down for him, thus creating a problem for him as he already has made up his mind to run for the Senate at the end of his second term as governor.
Little wonder, Abiodun supported his former chief of staff, Shuaib Afolabi Salisu against Daniel during the 2023 general election, hoping that if Salisu won the ticket, he (Salisu) would be magnanimous enough to step down for him (Abiodun) at the end of his second tenure as governor and allow him to run for Senate. Daniel however claims that the reason Abiodun is at war with him is because he (Daniel) supported President Bola Tinubu during the APC 2023 presidential primaries, while Abiodun pitched his tent with former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
Daniel also claims that Abiodun failed to see that majority of Ogun indigenes didn’t support his second term ambition as governor. Also, sources close to THEWILL reveal that Abiodun allegedly believes that Wale Adedayo, the embattled Chairman of Ijebu-East Local Government Area of the state, who alleged that he diverted council allocations, is allegedly being used as a tool by Daniel against him.
