The rift between Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, and the Senator representing Ogun East Senatorial District, Gbenga Daniel, has intensified as the former accused the latter of being an ingrate after supporting his senatorial bid in the 2023 elections.

It would be recalled that the duo had been at loggerheads shortly after some APC leaders in the district shut Daniel out of a stakeholders’ forum in Ijebu-Ode and subsequently endorsed Abiodun as the party’s consensus candidate from the zone.

But aggrieved by the decision, the former governor went ahead to purchase the APC senatorial nomination form to re-contest for the seat at the National Assembly in the 2027 elections, despite the sitting governor’s show of interest and endorsement by the party’s leadership and political group.

Reacting during a stakeholders’ meeting of the APC in Ogun East, yesterday, Abiodun claimed that he facilitated Daniel’s reintegration into the APC and played an important role in his emergence as senator.

However, the media office of Daniel, yesterday, rejected the claims attributed to Abiodun about his involvement in the senator’s political advancement, labeling the assertions as fictional and a misrepresentation of history.

In a statement dated April 29, 2026, the former governor’s media office explained that it was responding after receiving multiple requests to clarify remarks reportedly made by the governor at a private gathering in Iperu.

It chided Abiodun for making what it described as unsubstantiated claims in a closed setting, saying that such statements had not been openly examined or verified.

Daniel’s media office, therefore, affirmed that the senator’s political influence in the state remains solid and is not dependent on any external backing. (The Guardian)