That the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial candidate for Ogun East, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, has won convincingly in the senatorial election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) nationwide on Saturday is no longer news.
Daniel, a former governor of Ogun State, secured 115,147 votes to defeat other candidates in the contest for National Assembly seat. By this victory, he has proven again to be a force to reckon with in Ogun State.
Recall that when he contested for the governorship position of the state in 2003, Otunba Gbenga Daniel through the Gateway Front Foundation traversed the length and breath of the state, introducing the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with a resultant 100percent result for the party in the state, ditto for his second term which terminated in 2011.
The same template was adopted by Daniel last year after winning the APC Ogun East Senatorial ticket. On record he toured all the 103 wards in Ogun East with heavy empowerment in each local government with gifts including cars, tractors , motor bicycles, and others valued at millions of naira in the 9 local governments of the zone.
Aside the Ogun East empowerment via the Gateway Front Foundation, he was also reported to have reached out to support groups , religious bodies, civil societies, academics,and various interest groups even outside the APC fold.
With the official results announced by the Returning Officer, Prof. Christopher Onwuka, at the Ogun East Senatorial Collation Centre in Itoro Hall, Ijebu-Ode.
Daniel cleared all the nine local government areas in the senatorial district, including Ijebu North, Odogbolu, Remo North, Sagamu, Ijebu North East, Ijebu-Ode, Ijebu East, Ikenne and Ogun Waterside.
A breakdown of the results showed that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came second in the senatorial election, polling 58,708 votes while the Labour Party (LP) followed with 13,061 votes.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) polled 1,716 votes, Social Democratic Party (SDP) got 1,151 votes while Allied Peoples Movement (APM) had 857 votes.
Both the Action Democratic Party (ADP) and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNIPP) polled 494 and 379 votes respectively while Action Peoples Party (App) secured 193 votes. The National Rescue Movement (NRM) garnered 168 votes while People’s Redemption Party (PRP) polled 130 votes.
Having satisfied the requirements of the law and polled the highest number of votes, Otunba Daniel was declared winner of the election.
The words on the lips of the Ogun East political class is that the fortune of the party at the Presidential and National Assembly election in Ogun East and indeed in Ogun State was as a result of Otunba Daniel’s political strategy and master strokes.
