By Fola James
The battle for the soul of Ogun state Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP is as fierce as ever, with Gbenga Daniel, a former governor of the state and Buruji Kasamu, a former senator representing Ogun East battling for supremacy.
The crisis came to a head on Monday with the suspension of the state PDP chairman, Bayo Dayo, an ally of the former governor, for alleged anti party activities.
The faction loyal to the senator had accused the party chair of trying to compromise the PDP congresses in the state in favour of Daniel and his allies.
“We have the evidence of the meeting at Equity Hotel, Ijebu Ode, where Dayo collected money to sell the Ogun State structures of the PDP to Kessington Adebutu,” Kashamu said in a letter personally signed by him.
Adebutu and Daniel were instrumental to the emergence of Governor Dapo Abiodun of the APC in last year’s governorship election in the state.
On his part, the embattled chairman has also claimed that, at the centre of his predicament, is his refusal to sell the party structures to the senator.
Dayo said “They (Kashamu group) came to my house day before yesterday with N10m; they told me to take the money in order to sign their papers.
The paper is to withdraw the letter I wrote to the lawyer. I was also asked to write a letter to INEC telling them we have concluded the congresses of the state.
I resisted, I said I have written a letter to the lawyer that I do not need his services anymore because we are going to unite ourselves and I cannot sign the other letter telling INEC that we have concluded the congresses.”
He said he remains the chairman “I am still the state chairman, they are just deceiving themselves. The side of the case is that I am making a move to reconcile with the other group in our party in Ogun State so that the party can move forward.”
Dayo served as the party chair under Daniel’s administration and has since remained in that position until he was suspended by a faction of the party loyal to the ex-senator few days ago.
The former governor has been somehow docile on matters concerning the PDP since the current governor came to power, watchers of politics in the state told the magazine.
Daniel is among the political blocs in the state that ensured that APC Governor Abiodun emerged winner in the last governorship election in the state.
As a compensation for his support, the governor rewarded the former helmsman by appointing his allies into his cabinet.
The former governor has been rumoured of nursing a plan to defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
Daniel who served as the Director General of Abubakar Atiku’s Presidential Campaign team in the 2019 presidential election, shocked many last year after he claimed pressure was being mounted on him to dump the PDP.
He later said he has left active politics.
Earlier in January, thousands of Daniel’s PDP supporters, led by Gboyega Nasir Isiaka, the governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC dumped the PDP for APC and were welcome by Governor Abiodun into the ruling party.
Meanwhile, sources close to the former governor told the magazine on Thursday that the ex-governor jettisoned his earlier plan to join the APC after his hope of becoming a cabinet minister was dashed by President Muhammadu Buhari.
