In Nigerian politics, relevance is sustained not by past glory but by present alignment. Power flows to those who read the moment correctly, build consensus, and understand when the tide has shifted. Senator Gbenga Daniel’s recent political miscalculations within the Ogun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) offer a stark reminder of this enduring truth. What was conceived as a bold attempt to assert influence has instead unravelled into a cautionary tale of overreach, isolation, and diminishing political capital.
Once a dominant force as Ogun State governor and now senator representing Ogun East, Daniel appeared determined to recreate an old power order within a new political reality. But the terrain had changed. And the response from both the party hierarchy and the Presidency has been unambiguous: Ogun APC has a recognised leadership, and there is no crisis to mediate.
That clarity was underscored by President Bola Tinubu’s recent directive setting up a reconciliation committee for the APC in 11 crisis-ridden states, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Benue, Delta, Edo, Enugu, Kano, Osun, Rivers, Sokoto, and Zamfara. Notably absent from the list were Ogun and Oyo States. The omission was not accidental. It was a quiet but firm vote of confidence in the leadership structure of Ogun APC under Governor Dapo Abiodun, and an implicit dismissal of claims of factional disarray.
Yet, beneath this official calm lay a self-inflicted tension, one largely traceable to Senator Daniel’s insistence on operating a parallel political machinery. Following his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Daniel attempted to migrate his old loyalists into the APC under a separate platform branded the “Gateway Frontier.” Party insiders viewed this as an effort to establish a rival power bloc, one that could leverage his legacy networks to negotiate influence outside the established party structure.
The move was swiftly frowned upon in Abuja. The APC’s National Working Committee (NWC) issued a clear directive: there would be no parallel structures in Ogun State. Daniel was instructed to integrate fully into the party through the “authentic, originally constituted ward structures” and to work collaboratively with Governor Abiodun, particularly during the ongoing nationwide e-registration and membership revalidation exercise.
The defining moment came during that registration drive. Senator Daniel reportedly submitted a compiled list of supporters, many of them former PDP members, for enrolment under his factional banner. The list was flatly rejected. Party officials dismissed it as unauthorised and inconsistent with APC guidelines, reinforcing the position that only the recognised structures would be used.
The rejection was more than procedural; it was political. It stripped Daniel’s “Gateway Frontier” of legitimacy and left his supporters stranded, unable to gain official footing within the party. In one stroke, the crisis he sought to manufacture collapsed under its own weight.
What further accentuated Daniel’s isolation was the contrast with his contemporaries. All other federal lawmakers from Ogun State, senators, members of the House of Representatives, and even the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, closed ranks behind the governor. They donated laptops, registration gadgets, and logistical support for the membership exercise, with Tijani alone providing 100 handheld devices. Their actions projected unity, modern party-building, and collective purpose.
Daniel stood apart. He neither contributed to the exercise nor aligned openly with the official mobilisation effort. Instead, he pursued a lone strategy that has increasingly come to be seen as anachronistic, rooted in old-school political dominance rather than contemporary coalition-building.
Within party circles, the verdict is blunt. “By trying to build his own empire, he alienated the very structures that matter,” said one senior APC chieftain, speaking anonymously. “The rejection of his registration list was the final confirmation that the party has moved on.”
Now, the silence from that camp amplifies perceptions of retreat in a political environment where visibility and engagement are essential currencies.
As the APC consolidates ahead of future electoral contests, Ogun State now presents a clear picture: a united party structure under Governor Abiodun, endorsed implicitly by the Presidency. President Tinubu’s exclusion of Ogun from the reconciliation agenda was not an oversight; it was a statement that there is nothing to reconcile because the legitimate leadership is intact.
In the end, the lesson is as old as politics itself. Power misread is power lost. The crisis Senator Gbenga Daniel engineered did not fracture Ogun APC; it merely exposed the limits of individual ambition in a party that has chosen cohesion over nostalgia. To move forward, it is time for all members to channel their activities through the recognised leadership under Governor Abiodun.
