What was meant to be a show of unity in Ogun East has turned into an open political fight — and the fault lines are becoming harder to ignore.
The endorsement of Governor Dapo Abiodun for the Ogun East Senatorial seat, which took place on April 20 at Adeola Odutola Hall in Ijebu-Ode, has been flatly rejected by prominent stakeholders aligned with the BATOGD Movement — the political bloc backing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and sitting Senator Gbenga Daniel. Their position is blunt: the meeting was not a legitimate APC caucus gathering, the process did not follow party guidelines, and the outcome should not stand.
Retired General Olumuyiwa Okunowo, speaking at a press briefing held at Senator Daniel’s Sagamu residence, laid out the group’s grievances in detail. He alleged that the April 20 event was effectively a closed gathering of governor’s loyalists, with several invited party members physically turned away at the door. That, he argued, disqualifies it from being recognised as a valid party process under any reasonable interpretation of APC rules.
The legal argument goes further. According to the group, the APC’s amended electoral guidelines do not recognise endorsements as a legitimate pathway to candidacy. The only accepted routes are consensus — reached through the voluntary agreement of all aspirants — or direct primaries. Former Ijebu North East Local Government Chairman Otunba Tayo Onayemi questioned whether the governor had even formally declared his intention or complied with nomination procedures. Former Commissioner Akogun Kola Onadipe went a step further, arguing that for any consensus to be valid, all aspirants must sign a formal agreement — and that the absence of such documentation makes the entire exercise null.
The most explosive detail in the controversy, however, is what allegedly happened to Senator Daniel himself. A video circulating online shows the incumbent senator — the man currently occupying the very seat being contested — addressing supporters from outside the hall, having reportedly been denied entry to the meeting. If the account is accurate, it is a remarkable image: a sitting senator locked out of a gathering that was deciding the future of his constituency’s political representation.
The tension did not end at the venue. Okunowo alleged that armed security personnel were deployed to Senator Daniel’s Ijebu-Ode residence shortly after the event, based on what he described as misleading information. He confirmed that a formal petition had been submitted to the Inspector General of Police over the incident.
Despite the turbulence, the BATOGD Movement says it is not stepping back. Community engagement activities across Ogun East are continuing, and the group’s message is clear — the 2027 race for Ogun East Senatorial District is not settled, regardless of what happened at Adeola Odutola Hall.
With Governor Abiodun’s camp on one side and a well-connected bloc rallying behind Gbenga Daniel on the other, what is unfolding in Ogun East is shaping up to be one of the most contentious internal APC battles in the state’s recent political history.
