Gbenga Daniel was born on the 6th of April 1956, he was Governor of Ogun State of Nigeria from
29 May 2003 to 29 May 2011 making him the longest
serving governor of the State.
He is a member of the
ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is the
owner of the Nigerian Compass, a daily newspaper,
and also Kresta Laurel, a company he started in 1990.
As governor, he has attracted heavy criticisms and
commendations as well. He constructed the new
government secretariat at Oke Mosan which brought
all the state ministries together in one administrative
complex. His program on Public Private Partnership
attracted several businesses into the State during his
tenure. His administration was accused of several
irregularities some of which he is still standing trial
for. However, he is well commended by majority of the
people of Ogun State who believe his government was
people friendly.
Background:
Daniel was born on 6 April 1956 in the old City of
Ibadan of the then Western Region. He attended the
Baptist Boys High School, Abeokuta from 1969 to
1973, followed by studies at The Polytechnic, Ibadan,
and the School of Engineering of the University of
Lagos .
His decision to study engineering was
influenced by the brilliant engineer and teacher
Ayodele Awojobi . Daniel spent much time with
Awojobi, and was a winner and champion several
times over, on his television quiz show "Mastermind".
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES
Daniel became a fellow of the Nigerian Society of
Engineers. He taught briefly as a lecturer in the School
of Engineering of Lagos State Polytechnic. In 1983, he
obtained a job with Schroeder (W.A.) Limited, Lagos ,
rising to Deputy managing director becoming the first
African to hold that position in the history of the
company. He left Schroeder to start his own business.
In 1990 he founded Kresta Laurel, an engineering firm
specialising in elevators, overhead travelling cranes
and hoists.
Campaign for governor
Gbenga Daniel's campaign for the seat of the
governor has been described by political analyst as
"electric" considering the fact that as a business man,
he defeated a sitting governor. His campaign was a
revolution in the state in 2003 as he visited all the 236
wards of Ogun State, meeting with every stakeholder
of every streets and area in the state to sell his ideas.
Some faulted his campaign strategy as being
desperate while other schools of thoughts strongly
opined that it is the ideal thing for politicians to get
close to the people.
Governor of Ogun State
Daniel was elected governor of Ogun State in April
2003, running on the PDP platform beating the
incumbent with 217, 353 votes. His victory remains the
biggest electoral victory in Ogun state. He scored
449,335 votes against the sitting governor who scored
231,982 votes recording the widest margin ever in
Ogun state governorship race.
He acquired the chiefly title Otunba of the Egba and
Ijebu clans of the state during the course of his first
term.
He was re-elected in April 2007. His April
2007 election was disputed by rival candidate Ibikunle
Amosun of the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP), but
in August 2009 the Ogun State Election Petitions
Tribunal dismissed the petition.
In August 2006, the website Elundu Reports published
what it claimed to be evidence that Daniel had
obtained two houses in London after being sworn in
as Governor.
In June 2009 he drew criticism for his proposal to float
a N60bn bond for commercial developmental projects
in the state, which was said to be contrary to his
stated principles about the Public – Private
Partnership (PPP). In December 2008, Senator Iyabo
Obasanjo-Bello , daughter of former President
Olusegun Obasanjo , wrote a letter to Inspector-
General of Police, Mike Okiro saying that Gbenga
Daniel was after her life and calling for police action.
In July 2009, a scandal blew up with the publication in
the Nigerian Compass of a photograph that allegedly
showed Wale Alausa, a member of the state House of
Assembly, taking a blood oath which the paper said
was to ensure secrecy and unity of purpose in a bid to
impeach Daniel. The Nigerian Compass is owned by
Gbenga Daniel. Alausa said the pictures were real, but
the blood oath was an oath of allegiance to Daniel,
which he had taken at the governor's insistence.
He promoted entrepreneurship amongst young people
through voracious youth development programmes.
The Nigerian Youth Council of the state was massively
empowered to help youths all over the state and many
young people were appointed into notable political
positions. Some of his other achievements while in
office include building roads, recreational centres and
stadiums in the three senatorial districts of the state,
and setting up a University of Education.
The
Gateway International Stadium was a site of the 2009
FIFA U-17 World Cup which was held in Nigeria.
In February 2009, Daniel authorised reduction of fees
at the State-owned Moshood Abiola Polytechnic to
₦7,000. This followed negotiations with the National
Association of Nigerian Students after parents and
students had protested recent increases to fees.
Allegations and trial after handing over
On Wednesday, 12 October 2011, Gbenga Daniel was
first arraigned by the EFCC (The nation's anti graft
agency) on a 13 count charges claiming that 58 billion
naira was involved. Justice Olarenwaju Mabekoje
stroked out the charges and released Daniel on
technical basis saying that the charges were not
supported with factual documents. The Justice
however advised that they should reapply after they
must have done their home work well.
The EFCC claimed that they would not relent on their
effort to get him tried and that he was not discharged
but released on technical basis since their findings
were not deeply rooted with facts. By the time EFCC
finished their re application for trial process, the
count charges had increased but the huge 58 billion
naira had been reduced to 200 million naira. This
raised the eyebrows of the people considering the fact
that Gbenga Daniel was a wealthy business man
before becoming governor of the state and now he is
being tried for such ridiculous amount.
This became a laughing matter as many Nigerians
began to suspect that there must be a political foul
play somewhere against the former Governor who
have scored high for his 8 years administration based
on people's opinions most especially the civil servants
who constitutes the largest number of people living in
the state
After EFCC reapplied, Daniel was again arraigned on
Monday 16 April 2012 by the EFCC on a 38 count
charge which borders on misappropriation of fund
amounting to over N200 million, criminal breach of
trust and abuse of office while he held sway as
governor of Ogun State. He was however granted bail
and the trial has since commenced.
The trial is still on in the court of Law with Gbenga
Daniel having the upper hand as most of the
allegations have not been backed with credible and
strong facts and documents.
The trial has experienced
several adjournments with people getting tired of
where it is leading to.
Life post-handing over
Gbenga Daniel went back to his company Krestal
Laurel and has since continued funding youth
development initiatives within Ogun State. He
founded The Political Academy; an Academy he has
used to train thousands of youth teaching them about
the history of the country and political process. As a
result, many youths in Ogun State have become highly
politically aware and interested in politics.
He has been enjoying massive support from the youths
of the state. Many of which are clamouring that his
trial be dropped. In a recent development, some
youths came together and formed a network of young
historians of Nigeria to set the right records about
important historical happenings in Nigeria. The project
was given the name Project Correct. They have been
clamouring for the right stories to be told about
Gbenga Daniel claiming that he is a good political
leader who deserves honour and not trial.
Recent political activities
Gbenga Daniel returned to active politics, leaving the
PDP and joined the Labour Party. His reason for
joining Labour Party was to build a platform that will
serve as a proper check mate for any irregularities in
governance of the State. Many people in the PDP
frowned at this but the masses joined him to follow
the Party. Labour Party became the most dominant
opposition party in the state taking over from the
PDP. Series of community visits started as Daniel led
campaign rallies to various towns in Ogun State
towards the 2015 election.
Within months, Labour Party had become the party to
beat in the state and it was believed that Gbenga
Daniel was back to political prominence. The political
atmosphere in Ogun State went ecstatic as every
political party sat up. Series of politicking started all
over the state, Ogun State politics became the talk of
the whole nation. Everywhere he went for rally,
mammoth crowd always gather to declare their
support. It was becoming glaring that Labour Party
might win the election for 2015. While skeptic analysis
said it was an act of desperation for him to have left
PDP for Labour Party but majority of the people of
Ogun State didn't care, they started declaring their
support for him. He became the voice of the masses
speaking against unhealthy projects of the state
government.
It became a national news when the capital city of
Ogun State known as Abeokuta was full of many
thousands of people to attend the commissioning of
the Party Secreatariat, a building donated to the Party
by Gbenga Daniel.
Return to PDP
After much deliberations and reconciliation meetings
orchestrated by the National Leadership of PDP,
Gbenga Daniel returned to PDP in October, 2014. He
also declared his intention to run for the Senate which
became a heavy news all over the State. He came back
to PDP with massive supporters from the Labour Party
which became a big boost for the PDP.
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