Politics
Details: Why Dapo Abiodun’s Sympathizers Are Troubled
appeared to have heightened his hard stance against opponents
Recent happenings in Ogun state are troubling the sympathizers of Governor Dapo Abiodun.
“The consensus is that the Governor is getting sucked into a political play that will leave him on quicksand” SocietyNow.Ng learned.
Without going into who is right or wrong, SocietyNow.Ng’s checks revealed that the partial demolition of DATKEM Plaza, a 5-storey building owned by Olufunke, the wife of former governor Gbenga Daniel, overnight Sunday, September 10, 2023, adds to the recent happenings rapidly changing perception about Abiodun.
Abiodun rode to power in 2019 on the wave of the image of a gentleman politician, the direct opposite of the seen as unshifting and confrontational immediate past Governor Ibikunle Amosun whom virtually all other stakeholders – including Daniel – supported him against.
Abiodun actions -and inactions- in his first term, helped him to build on the image to forge public appeal as noncontroversial and silent in prosecuting his political fights a strategy – that protected his performance in office.
Checks by SocietyNow.Ng revealed that he started moving away from this position in the build-up to the March 2023 governorship election which gave him a second term by a slim margin – the victory is the subject of a court dispute.
“Expectedly he was more confrontational during the 2023 campaign but after wining the election, rather than re-embrace the strategy gave created the public personae that gave him headway in his first term, the Governor appeared to have heightened his hard stance against opponents and this troubling for his sympathizers” SocietyNow.Ng.
According to political watchers, Abiodun’s sympathizers are troubled that he is abandoning an area where he has carved a niche as regards perception for a space where there are better players and populated by masters of the brand of politics.
“And the is going toe to toe against OGD (Otunba Gbenga Daniel) a far more experienced politician who is very versed in luring in opponents with inexhaustible patience while exploiting seemingly harmless mistakes of the other side with great artistry” SocietyNow.Ng gathered.
Those who should know insist a window into such moves is the playing up of the partial demolition of DATKEM Plaza as Abiodun going against the investment of Daniel’s wife, Olufunke over political differences with the former Governor.
The development has been pitched as Abiodun going after helpless Olufunke who has no axe to grind with him because of his feud with her husband.
Another is the manner the partial demolition was carried out giving the OGD team ample time to trend the video along with their narrative with major interest picked by social media influencers who normally shun happenings in the state before the Ogun state government started playing catch-up with reasons.
The release of a video of Daniel’s visit to the site of the partially demolished 5-Storey building laced with abuses and curses against the Governor without any comment from the former Governor has also not helped to shape public opinion against the Governor, a development fueled by Abiodun’s release of a video “owning” the action with the theme “nobody is above the law” without providing examples of others who have suffered the same fate.
“The point is one of the things that have endeared Abiodun to the people of Ogun state is consideration for property when carrying out projects, his government does not demolish houses. His administration has always found a way to avoid that. Adopting that style against the background of the anguish Amosun caused with relentless demolitions has been a major gain for Abiodun and that is why many find this thing with DATKEM Plaza an anomaly” SocietyNow.Ng learned.
Street talks brand Sunday’s development as “an unpopular decision”.
Added checks by SocietyNow.Ng revealed that the DATKEM Plaza partial demolition coupled with the recent prostration by council chairmen begging the Governor for forgiveness and detention and release of Ijebu-East local government, Wale Adeday are being used to tell the story of an emerging pattern eroding Abiodun’s public appeal.
The prostration by the council chairmen was the result of allegations made by Adedayo that Abiodun had hijacked council funds, a claim the Governor and his team spiritedly disputed.
The remaining 19 chairmen in Ogun visited the Governor to distance themselves from the claim and plead for forgiveness. They prostrated from the Governor in a video released by his aides to show he remains in charge. The release of the video backfired with different interpretations and memes posturing Abiodun as “emperor ” trailing it.
Adedayo was invited for questioning by the secret police over the development and released in a move with fingers pointing back to the Governor.
“It is against these backdrops that Sunday’s partial demolition of Funke’s Daniel’s plaza and the happenings trailing are troubling to the Governor’s sympathizers. The belief is that he is frittering away hard-earned public goodwill at the expense of getting lured into the terrain where his opponents are the masters” SocietyNow.NG gathered.
Gbenga Danie, the Senator representing Ogun East, and Governor Abiodun are members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
They are engulfed in a supremacy tussle that is traced to fallout expectations during Abiodun’s fallout and highlighted in the process that earned Daniel the APC senatorial ticket for Ogun-East.
It is of added concern to the Governor’s sympathizers that Senator Daniel is just one of the major political opponents of Abiodun within his party while Ladi Adebutu of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is the face of his foes outside the APC.
