Governor Gbenga Daniel May Be Tried For The Murder Of Dipo Dina

Governor Gbenga Daniel

The current political battle in Ogun State that has pitched former President Olusegun Obasanjo against the state governor, Justin Olugbenga Daniel, may assume a dramatic dimension as Mr. Obasanjo has gone to work to unearth several crimes committed by the governor, several sources have told News Desk Naija.

Our sources said Mr. Obasanjo had vowed to use his political muscle to prosecute Governor Daniel over the midnight murder of Dipo Dina, a political opponent of Mr. Daniel’s and a gubernatorial aspirant under the ACN.

Mr. Dina was shot dead January 25, 2010 by suspected assassins around Covenant University in the Ota area of Ogun State close to the Obasanjo Farm.
 A police source told News Desk Naija that the police have since completed investigations. “Our investigations linked Governor Daniel to the assassination, but for political reasons we have not been allowed to charge the governor with the murder of Chief Dina.”

It is not the first time Governor Daniel would be shielded from facing the consequences of his criminal activities. In 2006, when Obasanjo was president, Mr. Daniel's widespread looting of state funds were covered up by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

However, News Desk Naija detailed the governor’s reckless money laundering activities in the state.
A source told our correspondent that Mr. Obasanjo was now out to use Governor Daniel’s instigation of the murder of Mr. Dina to turn the heat on Daniel. “Chief Obasanjo has sworn that he’s going to finish Governor Gbenga Daniel,” said one of our sources.

Mr. Obasanjo and Mr. Daniel have declared war on each other following a fall-out from their party’s fraudulent state primaries. After conducting two parallel congresses in the state, Mr. Daniel initially got the electoral commission to accept his slate of candidates, with himself as a senatorial candidate. However, Mr. Obasanjo had the last laugh when he secured a court order ruling that INEC must adopt his list of candidates.

“Chief Gbenga Daniel lost out in the race to become the PDP’s flag bearer in the senatorial race, but he has refused to accept defeat,” said an associate of the former president. The governor, who is one of the zonal coordinators for Goodluck Jonathan's presidential campaign, was conspicuously absent from Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, when Mr. Jonathan addressed a rally there last week.



Sources told News Desk Naija that Mr. Jonathan has tried to appease Mr. Daniel with the promise of a ministerial appointment if he wins at the April 2011 presidential election, but the governor has reportedly remained unimpressed, adamantly threatening to abandon the party for another party willing to accept him.

Another source revealed that Mr. Jonathan was willing to order the EFCC to institute formal prosecution of Governor Daniel over his acts of corrupt enrichment if Daniel refuses to be tamed. 

At a rally last week, Governor Daniel was quoted by newspapers as saying: "I want you to shine your eyes. Those who stole our vouchers to nail me, where are they today?” This was in veiled reference to Mr. Dina, who spent a fortune exposing Mr. Daniel's financial scams through forensic exposes in paid newspaper ads.

But an associate of former President Obasanjo said it was Mr. Obasanjo who rallied “the political elders in Ogun State to quell the uprising generated by Chief Dina's expose.” Protected by Obasanjo, Mr. Daniel was emboldened to use the police to arrest Mr. Dina.

A source close to Mr. Daniel told News Desk Naija that the governor was not afraid to fight Mr. Obasanjo to a standstill. He said the former president should be reminded that he had not answered for the murder of former Attorney General Bola Ige. “Chief Omisore was used to kill Chief Ige, but it is only Chief Daniel and Chief Ayo Fayose that Obasanjo is fighting,” said the source, adding that the governor had no hand in the murder of Dina.