FOR obvious reasons, Dr Ope Banwo, the pompous monkey who calls himself Mayor of Fadeyi, cannot avoid portraying himself as the lick spittle par excellence of the controversial senator representing Ogun East, Gbenga Daniel. First, he posed as a disinterested legal practitioner commenting on Gbenga Daniel’s case with the Ogun State Ministry of Urban and Physical Planning from abroad. But he quickly unravelled in the face of superior logic. Then to mask his utter partisanship, he claimed to be writing as “a stakeholder in Ogun East” and launched straight into scurrilous defence of his principal, using the language of demagoguery. He did not even have the courage to mention his portfolio as Daniel’s attack dog.
Giving the impression that he is writing for a kindergarten audience, without logic or sense and, more significantly, without the faintest shred of the time-honoured value that the Yoruba people call Omoluabi, Gbenga Daniel’s errand boy has been vaingloriously mounting a futile campaign to deodorize his personal lord and savior, a notorious Judas who was virtually in penury before Governor Dapo Abiodun rescued him from his self-dug pit after running Ogun State like an emperor and getting completely shackled by his successor, Ibikunle Amosun. In the process, because of the utter emptiness of his intellection and the depravity of his mind, he sets up a binary dichotomy in which Daniel is everything good and Dapo Abiodun everything bad. In his doggerel, Banwo rehashes the same failed allegations that his principal and the Peoples Democratic Party purveyed to their utter political ruination during the build-up to the 2023, and at every level of the court system. The irony, namely that he sets no store by the judgment of the Ogun people who elected the Governor twice, is lost on him.
His headline, sensational but senseless, is a study in how not to trade a conscience and pedigree for a pittance: “THE OGUN EAST SENATORIAL REALITY CHECK: OGD Won Seat In 2023 by Landslide Dapo Lost Same Constituency By A Rout (Including Losing In His Own Ward)— Who Should APC Bet On in 2027 Against Other Parties?” This is tendentious nonsense, but the author proudly announces that he is taking a critical look at 7 reasons why APC must return OGD as senator in 2027, and the same number of reasons it should back off the sitting governor, the man who actually controls the party’s machinery. But first, some background remarks. Daniel was only asked to present the documents for his properties in Sagamu GRA, but he has been waging a media war on Governor Abiodun since then, stoking emotional rubbish in his bid to evade accountability for land grabbing. Ridiculous, isn’t it?
As we speak, Banwo’s liege lord has been suspended from the APC following years of subversive activities. It is common knowledge that it was Governor Abiodun who begged traditional rulers in Ogun State led by the late Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba (Dr) Sikiru Adetona, to concede the Ogun East senatorial ticket to Daniel, and get the then sitting senator, Lekan Mustapha, to drop his re-election battle. The Awujale was said to have expressed reservations because Daniel could not be trusted but the Governor insisted and coerced Mustafa to step down (See the account by Tunde Ipaye on this issue) despite several warnings from people that he would do exactly what he is doing now, and has become notorious for . Governor Abiodun felt, regrettably as it turned out to be, that a former governor who had suffered so much at the hands of his successor should be allowed some respite.
Daniel, who was in charge of the Atiku Abubakar presidential campaign in 2019 and who had only joined APC few days to that year’s general election, was still new in APC, but Governor Abiodun gave him full support and rescued him from an eight-year oblivion. He restored Daniel’s businesses, which had been shut down by Amosun, and he and the party gave Daniel the needed financial and logistic support, and the APC triumphed at the February 2023 presidential/NASS elections in Ogun State. It was a universal victory for APC at all levels, not about Gbenga Daniel, but of course we do not expect lickspittles to have any value for truth.
That was when Daniel began to show his true colours. He struck a deal worth billions with the PDP candidate, Hon Adebutu, who is currently standing trial for money laundering—and, by the way, the details of money transfer between the camp of the PDP candidate and Daniel were uncovered by the security agencies, and are in the public domain. I urge the demented lawyer to challenge these notorious facts in court: he will be disgraced like his lord who is fast descending into the political pit he was rescued from. Daniel and his PDP friends executed a coup against Governor Abiodun simply because knowing that he and the Governor are from Ogun East, the senator undercut Abiodun so that he would not be a hindrance to his re-election! This was the same Judas who had just been rescued from political oblivion! No wonder the Yoruba say that no matter how you cook ebolo, it cannot lose its nasty smell.
The height of Daniel’s accustomed treachery came during the recent by-election wherein he summoned his associates to repeat the coup of 2023, but the APC leadership outsmarted him. Banwo boasts a lot about the supposed political prowess of his boss, but he will soon realize who really is boss. Where was that prowess in the eight years that Amosun held sway? And are we talking about the same Daniel who was so disconnected from his ward whose leadership unanimously suspended him, an action ratified by the state NWC of the party? How then is he going win the nomination for the 2027 senatorial ticket? Will he conjure one through abracadabra? And will the Ogun APC give him the ticket so that he can get yet another opportunity to perpetrate his anti-party activities and try to sink its fortunes? Banwo doesn’t think, does he? Daniel is already reaping the rewards of his indiscipline and treachery, and no matter the height of the horse on which his attack dogs try to place him, he is destined for life in the political dustbin.
You do not tell a child not to contract leprosy, as long as he can inhabit the forest in solitude. The idea that a sitting governor who commands the political structure of the party in his state needs to demolish his perceived opponent’s properties to win a ticket that is definitely is for the asking is jejune, but that is the story that Banwo and his fellow attack dogs have been peddling with idiotic fervor. No problem, 2027 will soon be here. As they say in Nigerian Pidgin, their eyes go clear.
Now, as part of Banwo’s 7 reasons, he lists the creation of Ijebu State, an exercise in futility, and then says that the senator consistently placed Ogun East’s critical issues on the Senate floor — from the Sagamu–Ore and Ijebu Ode–Epe roads. Just how demented can this fellow be? What does he know about the roads he is referencing? It was Governor Abiodun who wrote to President Bola Tinubu to carry out the Sagamu-Ore road reconstruction and got the commitment and subsequent approval of Mr President, which explains why he was the one that flagged it off with the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi. If the reconstruction was facilitated by Daniel, how come he was not at the flagging off? Banwo is seriously deluded. Besides, what major road the did Daniel construct in his eight-year tenure? Even Oba Erinwole that leads to his house was totally impassable when Governor Abiodun assumed office: it is common knowledge that Amosun refused to reconstruct the road because of him. This was one of the reasons Governor Abiodun, who has always canvassed the idea that governance is a continuum, prioritized it. Daniel is a complete ingrate who thrives by undercutting whoever comes to his aid.
And talking about federal roads, where was he when President Muhammadu Buhari came to inaugurate the landmark road projects by Governor Abiodun? Who constructed major roads such as Agbara-Atan-Lusada, Epe-Ijebu Ode, Sagamu Interchange and Papalanto-Otta Abeokuta? And who carried out the massive reconstruction of the Sagamu-Abeokuta road which Daniel shoddily constructed? Has Banwo been to the Sagamu Interchange? Regarding federal roads in Ogun State in general, is he unaware of Governor Abiodun’s ultimatum to the Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government, an action which even pitted him against the then Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola? Was it not Governor Abiodun who rehabilitated many federal roads in Ogun State in a bid to alleviate the suffering of the road users? Which federal road did Daniel mount pressure on the FG for? Was it not Governor Abiodun who piled ceaseless pressure on Dave Umahi to attend to some federal roads in Ogun State? By the way, who made Banwo and his ilk the judge of senatorial excellence? And which projects has Daniel attracted to Ogun East?
The Abiodun government is revolutionary in every sense. The Gateway International Airport, the game changer in Nigerian aviation, has just been licensed to operate commercial flights. It is simply phenomenal. The largest and deepest seaport in West Africa is springing up soon in Olokola courtesy of the investor-friendly climate that the Governor has created, and so is the dry port, for which the Abiodun government has just released 130 hectares of land along the Epe/Mojoda Expressway, Ijebu Ode, to the Federal Government. The Abiodun government has flagged off the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) aimed at empowering small holder farmers. Ogun under Abiodun is set to join the list oil producing states, and has consistently stood out among Nigeria’s top performing states.
Banwo should advise his oga to forward his land documents to the authorities, or bear the consequences!!! The alleged executive land grabber who from all Indications built his house on land belonging to the judiciary and the old Governors Guest House, respectively, oughtn’t he, Banwo?
Banwo and his fellow attack dogs are onboard a drowning boat. They will sink with it.
