Senator Gbenga Daniel has come under fire from the Ogun State Government for criticising Governor Dapo Abiodun after he issued a stop-work order on the ongoing repair of Sagamu’s 260-meter Paddy Arikawe Oye-Igbimo Road.
The senator was accused by the administration of purposefully misrepresenting facts and agitating the public with untrue statements, calling his remarks “reckless and misleading.”
The state government said that Daniel enjoys igniting controversy rather than upholding due process in a statement released on Sunday by Kayode Akinmade, the Special Adviser on Media to the Governor.
Adherence to due procedure will only be described as obstruction by someone with a malicious mindset.
“It is ironic that Senator Daniel, who spent years undermining state institutions while in power, now pretends to seek collaboration,” Akinmade said, adding that “a genuine statesman would comply with established processes rather than attempt to impose shoddy and unsafe engineering works on the people.
” The state government also recalled what he described as Daniel’s history of disregard for the law, including a previous standoff over property verification in Sagamu. “The same contractor has since accepted the government’s recommendations, which makes Daniel’s claims even more misleading,” Akinmade said.
Daniel has made it a hobby to disparage the administration whenever he can. He is currently suspended by the state executive of his party.
“How many roads did he build as governor, notwithstanding his complaints about them? Over 1,000 kilometres of roads have been constructed throughout the state by the current administration, the aide continued.
He came to the conclusion that the Abiodun government would uphold the rule of law even if the senator persisted in his “media war.”
“Daniel may keep performing for the audience, but we will never put the public in danger just to appease one person’s whims,” Akinmade emphasised.
According to reports, the face-off comes after the Ogun Ministry of Works sent a letter on September 17 ordering Tonye Nigeria Limited and contractor Minim to halt construction on the road project because they had not received the necessary permissions.
However, Daniel’s faction charged the state administration with sabotage.
The stop-work order, according to his media aide Steve Oliyide, was a “counterproductive and premeditated act to deny the people of the state from enjoying the fruits of good governance under President Tinubu.”
The state administration has already halted projects like this one. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has already approved the funding for the Sagamu-Aiyepe road, and the Ogun State administration took over as soon as the contractors were mobilised to the site, according to Oliyide.
He said that the Abiodun administration was making a conscious effort to thwart federal initiatives in Ogun East by citing comparable conflicts over projects in Ijebu Ode.
“The state administration is purposefully undermining Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s attempts to improve the lives of the people if they keep acting in this manner.
“It is an attempt to negatively portray the President in front of the public and a sabotage of the Federal Government’s efforts,” Oliyide continued.
