“Guardians of Democracy: APC Stakeholders Rally Against Ogun East Consensus Maneuver”
Some officials of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ogun East Senatorial District have criticized the recent caucus assembly where Governor Dapo Abiodun was affirmed as the consensus nominee for the 2027 elections.
Recall that the affirmation was announced at Monday’s assembly held at Adeola Odutola Hall, Ijebu Ode, where a former governor and senator representing the district, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, was reportedly barred from entering the venue.
Daniel, in a widely circulated video, was observed addressing his supporters, stating, “We are gathered for our caucus meeting, and I arrived here at 10 a.m. They informed us we shouldn’t enter the venue in Ijebu-Ode. Therefore, if they proceed with anything here today without my presence, it is a futile endeavor.”
Nonetheless, at the conclusion of the meeting, Governor Dapo Abiodun was declared as the consensus candidate for the senatorial district in 2027.
Expressing his views to reporters on Thursday at a press briefing held in Sagamu, the Director-General of the BATOGD movement, General Olumiyiwa Okunowo (Rtd), referred to the gathering as a mere “Governor Abiodun’s meeting” rather than an authentic caucus session.
He claimed that more than half of those present were unqualified to participate in a senatorial caucus meeting, contending that the process was orchestrated to yield a predetermined result.
His remarks: “Certainly, those who were designated by the Governor have the democratic privilege to endorse whichever candidate they choose, even if that individual is their principal. However, utilizing the party’s name to entice attendance at such gatherings is what raises our concerns. Most of the leaders, including our leader, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, were lured into joining the event under the pretense of a Caucus Meeting of Stakeholders of the Ogun East Senatorial District.
“It was only upon arrival that many learned that more than half of the attendees were not even qualified to participate in a senatorial caucus meeting. Some of our members, who were clearly qualified to attend as per the invitation, were pointedly instructed to exit the venue, under the justification that ‘this is a DA show’ and could be attended solely by supporters of the Governor.
“We do not deny them their right to conduct their own event, and we believe this explains why our leader, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, was barred from entering a ‘DA show.’ No hard feelings, but they should have had the courage to make their true intentions clear instead of employing the name of our esteemed party to pull our leaders into endorsing a preordained ‘show’,” he stated.
Additionally, Tayo Onayemi, the Deputy Director-General of the movement, recounted being threatened at the meeting and instructed to leave or face repercussions.
Onayemi stated, “When they recognized me, they confirmed that the gathering was for Dapo Abiodun’s associates, and they requested that I leave or there would be an issue.”
The movement further condemned a heavy security “siege” by officers of the Nigeria Police Force on all routes leading to the residence of Gbenga Daniel on Wednesday, branding the action as an instance of “executive lawlessness” and reminiscent of military-era tactics.
According to them, the security clampdown was a calculated move to obstruct their ongoing Community Assessment and Review Tour—a grassroots empowerment initiative that has successfully visited seven out of nine local government areas in the district without incident.
“We are profoundly astonished by this development, as we see no justifiable reason for the deployment of armored vehicles and hundreds of security personnel,” they added.
Meanwhile, they called upon the party’s national leadership to intervene in the circumstances to avert democracy from being undermined and reiterated the unanimous endorsement of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the consensus candidate for the upcoming presidential elections in 2027, emphasizing that he has proven his ability to address the country’s challenges.
