Ogun Governor Dapo Abiodun and Senator Gbenga Daniel are in open conflict over the Ogun East senatorial ticket after Daniel was barred from an APC caucus meeting in Ijebu-Ode on Monday.
The meeting at Adeola Odutola Hall was called for 11 a.m.
A notice circulated Sunday invited “past chairmen, past and present National Assembly members, and councillors” to an emergency senatorial meeting.
Daniel, who represents Ogun East and is a former governor, arrived by 10 a.m. but his convoy was stopped at the gate.
In videos posted on X on Monday, his supporters chanted “OGD, OGD” while security aides argued with men at the entrance.
Addressing supporters from his vehicle, Daniel said: “We are here for our caucus meeting… They said we shouldn’t enter the venue in Ijebu-Ode. Therefore, if they do anything here today without my presence, it is an exercise in futility. So, their actions will amount to self-deceit.”
His media aide, Steve Oliyide, confirmed the incident.
He told reporters the meeting was “a gathering of loyalists of Governor Dapo Abiodun,” adding that others were also blocked. “It’s not only OGD they bounced. They threatened Otunba Onayemi, a former local government chairman, and other former chairmen expected at the caucus,” Oliyide said.
At the meeting, party leaders endorsed Abiodun as consensus candidate for Ogun East ahead of the 2027 general election.
Abiodun’s second term as governor ends in May 2027.
Daniel is seeking a return to the Senate in 2027, associates said.
Abiodun was first endorsed for the seat by party leaders earlier this month, according to a communiqué from an APC stakeholders’ session in Sagamu.
The lockout sets up a direct contest between the governor and the sitting senator for the APC ticket in Ogun East.
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