Gov. Dapo Abiodun’s Desperate Persecution Of OGD: The Escalation Of Lawlessness That Could Hand Ogun To Opposition And Endanger Tinubu In 2027 By Ope Banwo

A Sham Suspension, A Desperate Plot – Dapo’s Escalating War To Destroy OGD

 

Governor Dapo Abiodun has once again bared his fangs in Ogun State politics. In what appears to be a desperate, scorched-earth bid to hound his long-time political benefactor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel—the same man who helped pave his path to victory in 2019—Abiodun has now escalated his vendetta ahead of the 2027 elections. His campaign of persecution against OGD is no longer subtle; it is open, brazen, and vindictive.

 

This is not just a rivalry; it is a staggering act of betrayal. OGD is not an ordinary politician—he is a two-term former governor, a respected grassroots mobilizer, and one of the most formidable political forces in Ogun State. In 2019, it was his quiet but decisive support that swung critical structures in Abiodun’s favor, saving Dapo Abiodun’s ambition when his candidacy faced serious headwinds.

 

Yet today, Abiodun has chosen to repay loyalty with persecution, attempting to erase the very man who once helped him to the governorship seat.

 

In a bizarre twist of betrayal that has become the hallmark of Abiodun’s politics, the man once derisively labeled “Eleyi” by President Tinubu—after his alleged failed attempt to backstab the President during the 2023 APC primaries—has now turned his dagger on another benefactor.

 

First, he allegedly sought to undermine the President himself, and now he has inexplicably turned Gbenga Daniel into his number-one enemy, simply because he covets OGD’s senatorial seat.

 

Having failed in his reckless attempt to demolish OGD’s houses, Abiodun seemed to have doubled down with an even more audacious move: orchestrating a sham “suspension” of OGD from the APC. Apparently, a few handpicked loyalists of Gov Dapo Abiodun met in secret, without due process (they never formally accused him of any anti-party activities; never served OGD any notices of party rule violation and never invited him to defend himself against anything ), without evidence, without a fair hearing, and declared OGD suspended.

 

This is not discipline—it is desperation. It is not party politics—it is the politics of betrayal. It would be something to laugh at only if it were not a serious matter for vigilant organizations like our Naija Lives Matter Organization, which continues to monitor this escalating situation with trepidation for the sake of our democracy and innocent lives that may be put at risk when this lawlessness spirals out of control. God forbid.

 

Without a doubt, to any observer, this move, coming right after the courts stopped Dapo Abiodun’s planned illegal demolitions of all OGD Houses in OGD State, reeks of reckless vengeance and desperation. Having failed to demolish OGD’s houses with bogus demolition orders—a scheme already stopped by the courts and rejected by the people—Abiodun has now turned to the party machinery, bending it like a personal weapon in his unrelenting quest to seize OGD’s senatorial seat once his own gubernatorial tenure expires.

 

But make no mistake: what unfolded in Shagamu is not party discipline. It is political brigandage, plain and simple. Seven pro-Abiodun loyalists—reportedly acting under the Governor’s direct instruction—met in a corner room and, without due process, announced that OGD was “suspended.” No particulars of wrongdoing were ever supplied. No official notice was served. No investigative body was convened. No fair hearing was given. Nothing remotely resembling the APC constitution was followed.

 

This charade of a suspension is yet another chapter in Abiodun’s growing reputation for lawlessness and emperor-style politics. For a governor already battling multiple petitions at the EFCC—petitions insiders say he hopes to bury by hiding under the cover of a Senate seat—the motive is clear: he wants OGD out of the way, expelled if possible, so he can clear the path to Abuja and use the senate power to escape the day of reckoning that awaits his tenure

 

A Malicious And Dangerous Abuse Of Power Masquerading as Governance.

Abiodun’s persecution of OGD is not new—it has been escalating for years.

 

2023: A multibillion-naira commercial complex belonging to OGD’s wife, Yeye Olufunke Daniel, was demolished by Abiodun’s government in the middle of the night on a Sunday under the flimsy excuse of “contraventions” even while the alleged contraventions were still a subject matter of a pending lawsuit. Ogun people saw it for what it was: targeted humiliation, but that didn’t stop Gov Dapo and, in fact, seemed to have emboldened him because OGD and his followers did not react violently or take the law into their hands. They took the matter to court, and 2 years later, are still waiting for justice through our court system while Dapo laughs at them.

 

2025: Abiodun allegedly moved against OGD’s Sagamu residence and other properties by serving a suspected notice of contravention; a 3-day notice or quit and a 3-day demolition notice all on the same day and on a Friday after work hours without giving OGD any opportunity to even challenge or cure any alleged defect. A High Court had to step in with an injunction restraining the state from demolishing them.

 

Even after the court spoke, Abiodun doubled down with the political stunt of suspending OGD from APC for “anti-party activities’ in another midnight ‘resolution’ of a few party loyalists without first formally accusing him of any anti-party activities or serving him any notice to defend himself and without formally inviting him to any disciplinary proceedings. The nation just woke up 2 days ago to read in many newspapers that OGD has been suspended from APC.

 

This is not governance. This is gangsterism dressed in official robes, and it does not bode well for our democracy is why some of us are sounding the alarms now.

 

Collateral Damage: Party in Disarray, State on Edge

 

Abiodun’s obsession with crippling OGD to pave the way for his own senatorial seat has created a toxic climate in Ogun APC. Party loyalists aligned with Daniel now face ostracism, harassment, and intimidation. Instead of building cohesion ahead of 2027, Ogun APC is being torn apart by one man’s paranoia.

 

Meanwhile, the people of Ogun State are suffering. Citizens want jobs, infrastructure, and security, not bulldozers aimed at political enemies. When courts repeatedly restrain the governor from demolishing his rival’s property, the optics are devastating: it paints Ogun as lawless and institutions as pliant to personal vendetta.

 

History is clear: no political party survives long when its internal wars become blood sport. Abiodun’s antics are shrinking APC’s grassroots morale while gifting opposition parties the best recruitment tool they could ask for.

 

 

The Abuja Blind Spot: Why Tinubu Must Pay Attention

 

Here lies the real danger. OGD is not a lightweight—he remains one of Ogun’s most connected political heavyweights, with deep grassroots structures and goodwill that Dapo Abiodun can only envy. If Abiodun succeeds in hounding him out of APC, PDP, or ADC will happily welcome him.

 

That single defection could instantly transform Ogun from an APC fortress into a battleground state in 2027. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s reelection map relies on a united Southwest. He cannot afford Ogun—his own political neighborhood—to be fractured by Abiodun’s reckless vendetta.

 

Suspending a former governor and sitting APC senator is not “discipline”; it is detonation. The shrapnel will not just wound OGD; it could weaken Tinubu’s reelection scaffolding.

 

A Dangerous Legacy in the Making

Governor Abiodun may think he is succeeding in humiliating his opponents temporarily. But the scorched-earth tactics he is unleashing today against OGD could become the bonfire that consumes his own political future—and by extension, the fragile fortunes of APC in Ogun State ahead of 2027.

 

Every bulldozer he sends against OGD, every kangaroo suspension he engineers, every court order he ignores is writing for him a dark legacy—that of a petty dictator who sacrificed his party and state on the altar of ego.

 

The solution is clear: President Tinubu and the APC national leadership must intervene now. They must rein in Dapo Abiodun’s persecution campaign before Ogun APC collapses under his tyranny, and before the opposition converts this internal war into a 2027 earthquake.

 

*Final Word From My Fadeyi Balcony*

Governor Dapo Abiodun’s desperate persecution of OGD is not only shameful—it is suicidal. He is burning down the house he hopes to inherit. If Abuja continues to look away, this festering fire in Ogun may very well spread into the 2027 battlefield, costing Tinubu dearly in a state where APC should be strongest.

 

The warning signs are flashing red. Ogun deserves better. I am not APC, but for the sake of my state, and all of the innocent lives that may be affected if this war of desperation persecution of an opponent for the sake of power continues, we call on APC to do better. They are not the only party in Ogun State. Nigeria also deserves better. This kind of executive rascality by Gov Dapo Abiodun is not the Renewed Hope that Ogun state people expected or voted for.

 

Ope Banwo, an Attorney At Law, Founder, Naija Lives Matter and Mayor of Fadeyi, wrote from America’s

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