Society
Why Gbenga Daniel & Ladi Adebutu’s New Picture Is Trending
Insiders say this is especially significant
A recent picture of Senator Gbenga Daniel and gubernatorial hopeful Ladi Adebutu is trending.
Daniel is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), while Adebutu is the face of the rival People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State.
The political heavyweights are from the Ogun East Senatorial District, along with state Governor Dapo Abiodun, whom they are both at odds with.
The attention-attracting photo was taken at the burial ceremony of Doyin Okupe, the former presidential spokesperson (who served ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo), in Iperu, a part of Ogun East, on Friday, March 28, 2025.
Senator Daniel and Adebutu openly taking a photo amid separate raging political feuds with Governor Abiodun is being interpreted as “a strong message” in political circles.
Insiders say this is especially significant because they control more formidable and influential statewide structures, despite the fact that Abiodun is the governor.
“There are four major and active political structures across party lines in Ogun State, and the leaders of three of them are in APC. They are Senators Gbenga Daniel and Solomon Adeola, and former Governor Ibikunle Amosun. The remaining structure belongs to Ladi Adebutu. These are the people who have loyalists that are primarily beholden to them—fanatically so. The governor has a tidy number of people to his name, but many of them come from the coalition that helped him secure his first term in 2019 and his second term in 2023,” according to information at hand.
According to discussions in political circles, the photo of Daniel and Adebutu is a huge pointer to the senator planning ahead for an all-out fight to retain his seat in the face of intense talks of interest from the governor.
“This is particularly telling because Adebutu and Abiodun are from the same town and local government area,” sources say.
The photo has introduced a new slant to how Daniel and Abiodun stand in the race to determine who occupies the Ogun East Senatorial seat in the next political dispensation, with talks of possible contests on different platforms as part of considerations, according to insiders.
