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With due respect, Your Excellency Prince Dr. Dapo Abiodun CON, you need to get one thing crystal clear: Otunba Engr. Gbenga Daniel (OGD) did not become Senator because Dapo Abiodun supported him. OGD was elected by the people.
The people of Ogun East Senatorial District gave OGD a historic mandate, recording one of the highest vote tallies ever achieved in a senatorial election in the district. More importantly, those votes were earned at the ballot box — not manufactured, manipulated or artificially inflated. His mandate was the clear expression of the people’s choice.
So, let nobody rewrite the political mathematics.
If Governor Abiodun says he was warned against supporting OGD in 2023, that is his recollection. But OGD did not need Dapo Abiodun’s support to earn the mandate of Ogun East. The people spoke loudly at the ballot box.
Your Excellency should also remember history: OGD was warned against supporting Dapo Abiodun in 2019 — yet he supported him.
OGD was in the PDP while Abiodun pursued his governorship ambition on the APC platform. Despite the political divide, OGD publicly raised Dapo Abiodun’s hand at Asoludero Hall, Sagamu, stood behind his ambition and, at a critical point, appealed to the people of Ogun Waterside to support him.
That was political sacrifice. That was political courage. That was putting the larger interest above personal calculations.
Therefore, if Prince Dapo Abiodun wants to talk about who supported whom, let the complete history be told — not selective history.
OGD supported Dapo when Dapo needed political support; stood with him when others advised him not to; and deployed his political goodwill and influence behind Dapo’s governorship ambition.
But when the table turned, Dapo Abiodun’s support was neither the reason OGD won nor the source of OGD’s mandate. The people of Ogun East gave OGD that mandate through votes freely expressed and legitimately counted.
Your Excellency, political goodwill should not be mistaken for political ownership. OGD is not anybody’s political property; his mandate belongs to the people who voted for him.
The question is simple: If OGD could ignore those who warned him against supporting Dapo Abiodun in 2019, why should Dapo now present his support for OGD in 2023 as though he personally created OGD’s mandate?
Politics is about history, sacrifice, loyalty and, above all, the people.
Prince Dapo Abiodun should remember who stood by him when he needed support — and respect the people who stood by OGD at the polls.
No one man owns OGD’s mandate.
No one man gave OGD his victory.
The people did.
Ogun people have a long memory.
SB E-news.
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