‘You’re A Canterkerous Character’, Group Flays Ogun APC Publicity Secretary Over Attack On Senator Gbenga Daniel

ABEOKUTA – The intra-party crisis rocking the Ogun state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) got messier on Tuesday as a political group, Gateway Movement lampooned the Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Tunde Oladunjoye for attacking the Senator representing Ogun East, and a leader of APC Dapo in the state, Senator Gbenga Daniel.

Daniel came under intense criticism and attack from his party man following his recent outburst in an interview granted to The Nation newspaper on Saturday.

Daniel, in a recent interview, said he initiated some important projects during his administration between 2003 and 2011 which were underreported due to bad press.

The former governor reportedly listed some of these projects to include Gateway Agro-Cargo Airport started by the administration of Gov. Abiodun about three years ago and nearly completed with the longest runway and largest apron in Nigeria and West Africa corridor.

This statement credited to the former governor infuriated the party for claiming the glory of Governor Abiodun’s achievement.

Reacting to Daniel’s statement on Sunday, Ogun APC Publicity Secretary, Tunde Oladunjoye, said the statement credited to Daniel was nothing but “a product of hallucination by a serial failure”.

Oladunjoye insisted that the former governor did nothing to suggest the seriousness of his administration to build any airport in the state, adding that Daniel in his usual character merely announced the proposed airport and the intended location as a mere political statement for immediate gains.

According to the former LG boss, the area proposed for the airport by Daniel’s administration remained a thick forest until Abiodun came on board in 2019.

Oladunjoye explained that “Unlike the deceptive 8-year administration of Daniel, Abiodun came on board with integrity, and purposeful leadership skill, which is practically responsible for the remarkable success his administration had recorded in the last five years, and the reason for the present headache of his hitherto traducers, including Gbenga Daniel.

The Ogun APC spokesperson further alleged that Daniel’s “ineptitude, deceptive tendency, and maladministration were responsible for his unpopular administration and not bad press as he claimed”.

But in a counter reaction, the Publicity Secretary, Gateway Movement, Ismail Olawale described Oladunjoye as a Canterkerous Character who should not be taken serious.

Olawale described Oladunjoye’s attack on Senator Gbenga Daniel as an age long hatred against the former governor for removing him as council chairman of Ijebu East Local Government.

Going down memory lane, the group explained that Oladunjoye’s inability to manage a communal crisis while at the helm of the local government which led to the death of Assistant Commissioner of Police, ACP Omolodun in Ijebu Ige led to his sacking by the then Governor Gbenga Daniel.

The statement signed by the group further reads; “It must be reiterated that every Nigerian, including even party members have rights to their personal opinions and they could express that in whatever form they like because these rights are enshrined in our constitution and protected by our Laws. But elevating such opinions to such a high pedestal as the opinion of the All Progressives Congress is insubordination and impersonation of the Office of the Publicity Secretary of the Party. There sure is a clear and distinct persona between a political appendage and the Office of the Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress in Ogun State.

“In exercising our right of reply, the observing public is invited to note the personality of the enfant terrible casting aspersions on a respected leader like His Excellency, Otunba Gbenga Daniel and also indicting the Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun as well as our revered leader and former Governor, Akinrogun Segun Osoba as having worked against our President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR during the last presidential election. This character was introduced to Governor Daniel in 2006 as someone who needed assistance and to establish a political base. He committed himself to writing several beautiful features in praise of the then serving Governor to endear himself to the favour for which he desperately needed. In response, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, then as Governor of Ogun State directed the Special Adviser on Rural Development to release some Graders to him frequently to go and fix some rural roads in the Ijebu East Local Government. Diesel fuels for the Graders were provided by the Governor, with some other personal logistics support for upkeep. This was done to endear this ungrateful politician to the people in the local government so that they can support him to win the subsequent Chairmanship election.

“Having been helped to become an Executive Chairman even amidst hostile protest by leaders in his domain, this cantankerous character mismanaged a local crisis in his Ijebu East Local Government council area, leading to the gruesome murder of an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Omolodun in Ijebu Ife. He had to be quickly removed to douse flaying tension and prevent reprisals which could have thrown the whole community into the massacre of the Odi nature. As Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel urgently set up a Fact Finding and Truce Committee with various pacifications to the Nigerian Police Force. The matter became rested.

“This is the genesis of the years long hateful attack he has been exhibiting against his benefactor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel. Recall that in the intra-party PDP crises of the period, it was convenient for Tunde Oladunjoye to align with the camp of late Senator Buruji Kashamu. In that relationship, on a single day, the late Senator Kashamu bought fifteen bundles of clothes, brought in his taylor to kit him because, according to him, he wanted Tunde “to look like human” which underscores the parlous state of the persona behind the name, Oladunjoye. Late Kashamu also added a Prado Jeep for Tunde just to make him appear human. No sooner than the 2011 Governorship election was won and lost that Oladunjoye shifted base to Senator Ibikunle Amosun’s camp, betraying all that Senator Kashamu represented in his life and badmouthing his new benefactor just as he did with OGD.

“Senator Amosun, as Governor of Ogun State compensated Tunde with an appointment as a Member of the Board, Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED), an institution founded by Otunba Gbenga Daniel. It was while serving as a member of the Board that he attempted to go back to school to acquire the higher education which he badly needed. His calculations was who is the lecturer that would dare “fail” him even if he falls short of the required academic standards when he is a member of the school Governing Council. How Oladunjoye’s story ended with Senator Ibikunle Amosun, his other benefactor is quite open. He betrayed Amosun again.

“Sooner than he was elected as Governor in 2019, Prince Dapo Abiodun armed with sufficient knowledge of the character called Tunde Oladunjoye, and having lost all relevance, decided to keep him at arms length like a devil who must be dined with a long spoon. He simply made him the Chairman of the OGTV Board. At OGTV, Oladunjoye was behind the leaked flop interview where the Governor goofed several times during a prep rehearsal for a broadcast and the video went viral to the embarrassment of the Governor.

“Staff of OGTV will not forget Oladunjoye in a hurry as he practically took over the job of the TV station’s General Manager, resuming at the station daily like an employee and turning the place into a sacrificial grove with daily incense burning.

“That is the character that we are dealing with in the so-called Press Release purportedly ascribed to our party. As a matter of fact, information reaching us reveals that some party men especially those in Ijebu East LG are already digging up on Tunde’s stewardship as Chairman OGTV in the last four years. Preliminary report received indicate gross misappropriation against the state and it may be a matter of time before the investigators forward his corrupt dossier to the party leadership and security agencies. It is getting clearer that most of Governor Abiodun’s close aides may perpetrating major misdemeanours and crimes against the state while hiding under the cover of their proximity to the governor. This is apparently why the rating of the government keeps dropping in the eyes of the public, party members inclusive.

“We needed to lay this background so that the unsuspecting public may be abreast of the despicable character behind the name Tunde Oladunjoye, a supposed image maker who ironically is our great party’s image breaker. It is more worrisome that someone who claims to be speaking on behalf of the party read through the interview of Otunba Gbenga Daniel, saw the avalanche of commendations, praises, well-thought-out advice and maturely articulated roadmap for the administration but choose to sidestep these remarks and embark on shadow chasing.

“Now to the real issue. At no time in the interview granted by Otunba Gbenga Daniel did he engage in name-calling of any sort. In fact, the Senator never for once expressed any ill feeling on the Ogun Agro-Cargo Airport being constructed by the Dapo Abiodun Administration. The full excerpts of the interview (as against the misconception being bandied about by mischief makers) was published by The Nation Newspaper on Saturday, May 18, 2024. https://thenationonlineng.net/im-amused-seeing-those-who-said-asiwaju-had-no-chance-now-gallivanting-around-him-gbenga-daniel/

Interested members of the public are encouraged to read the whole interview.

“It is factual to say the real intendment of that interview is to review and highlight the successes of the Bola Tinubu administration ahead of its one year anniversary. The Senator also sought to clarify some misconceptions that have been simmering for some time and to restate several efforts and initiatives by him and his team to realise the Tinubu presidency. Instructively, all the statements made by Otunba Gbenga Daniel during the interview are factual and verifiable.

“How Oladunjoye ended up appropriating nameless assertions to his boss and respected former governor, Chief Olusegun Osoba remains a mystery and smacks of wicked chicanery and the desperation to pull down and silence Gbenga Daniel, albeit repeatedly unsuccessful.

“Meanwhile, this is not the first time Oladunjoye is abusing his position as the spokesperson of the party to settle personal scores unabated. It is, therefore, right to state that his actions have the support of those who attacked the candidacy of President Tinubu in 2023 and currently doing everything possible to cut down all those who they feel disobeyed the edict to fight the aspiration of Tinubu in 2023. Our advice to this crop of people is to come to the reality that President Tinubu has emerged victorious and whatever secret ills they have against him should be laid to rest. The President is the leader of the party from top to bottom, and any secret plan to alienate state structure in preparation for a fictional battle in 2027 will be met with the full opposition by true-born Afeniferes.”