• Daniel: “Abiodun is targeting me, he wants to demolish my properties”
• Abiodun: ” It is not true. We are not targeting Otunba Daniel.”
By Abiola Olawale
A heated dispute has erupted between former Ogun State Governor and current Senator representing Ogun East Senatorial District of Ogun State at the Senate, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, and the Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, over alleged plans to demolish properties belonging to Daniel in Sagamu.
Recall that on August 8, 2025, Daniel had raised concern that some agents purportedly acting on behalf of the Ogun State Government issued notices targeting three of his properties: his private residence, Asoludero Court, Conference Hotel Limited, and its annex, all located in Sagamu.
He further alleged that the notices, issued by the Ogun State Planning and Development Authority, cited violations of the 2022 Urban and Regional Planning Law, alleging construction without proper permits and inadequate setbacks.
In a statement released through his media aide, Steve Oliyide, Daniel described the move as “political persecution at its peak” and a “thuggish tactic” designed to intimidate.
He argued that the properties, built between 2004 and 2015, predate the 2022 law, rendering the allegations “ludicrous” and legally questionable.
The statement reads in part: “At about the close of official work, precisely at close to 4pm yesterday, the 8th Day of August, some people claiming to be agents agents of the government of Ogun State, under the Prince Dapo Abiodun administration posted Notices of Contravention, Quit and threats of demolition on the Asoludero Court Sagamu private residence, the Conference Hotels Limited, Sagamu and the hotel Annex of the former Governor of Ogun State, His Excellency The Senator Otunba Gbenga Daniel, simultaneously.
“We strongly condemn this latest act of political persecution by Governor Dapo Abiodun, as evidenced by the recent issuance of these Notices which were dated August 8, 2025, as a clear demonstration of the governor’s malicious and vindictive abuse of power, hiding behind a newly enacted law retroactively to target a political opponent.
“The documents concerning these properties cite ‘suspected’ offences related to construction without adequate permits (which is laughable).
“This is a ludicrous and flimsy excuse, as the properties in question have been in existence for many years. For instance, the Asoludero Court was built in 2004, while the Conference Hotel Sagamu was built in 2013, and the Annex since 2015.”
However, the Ogun State Government, through Special Adviser on Information and Strategy Kayode Akinmade, denied targeting Daniel.
Akinmade said the notices are part of a broader audit of building approvals across the state, insisting that Daniel’s properties were not singled out.
Akinmade clarified that the notices were part of a development audit being conducted in the Sagamu and Ijebu-Ode Government Reserved Areas, an initiative he said affects many other property owners.
But Dapo Abiodun’s aide could not address how permits and approvals duly gotten prior to the new rule which was signed in 2022 violate building approvals.
Also, the governor aide could not explain why a state government would claim that permits and approvals duly obtained and ascertained prior to Governor Abiodun’s 2022 law would amount to a breach of building law permits in Ogun State.
But the governor’s aide simply added:“All Otunba Gbenga Daniel needs to do, just like every other person in a similar situation, is to present his planning permit and land title to the relevant government agency for verification within the time specified in the notices, rather than resorting to cheap blackmail.
“Nobody is bigger than the State. Senator Gbenga Daniel is distinguished, no doubt, but he is not bigger than Ogun State. He should submit himself unreservedly to the same laws he once swore twice to uphold.”
