Former Ogun State governor and senator representing Ogun East, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, has declared that the success of the agitation for the creation of Ijebu-Remo State rests squarely on his return to the Senate in 2027.
Daniel, who made the remarks while commissioning the Renewed Hope International Market at Ìgodè, Sagamu Local Government Area, said his second-term victory would determine whether the long-awaited statehood dream becomes a reality.
Speaking in Yoruba to a cheering crowd at the event, which also doubled as the midterm community assessment of the BATOGD Movement, the e senator warned that failure to re-elect him could truncate the process at the National Assembly.
“I want to warn you. We are begging President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to create Ijebu-Remo State before the 2027 election. If our Oga (the President) says it will happen after the election, no problem. But if your senator is not returned, it will be back to zero,” Daniel said.
The senator explained that legislative rules make it mandatory for a sponsor to return to the National Assembly to continue pushing a bill, otherwise the process would lapse.
He added that the creation of Ijebu-Remo State would bring enormous political and economic benefits to the region.
“Some mischievous people, who I won’t call fools, don’t understand this. If we get our own state, instead of one senator, we will have three; instead of three House of Representatives members, we will have nine.
“Beyond that, we will get our own federal allocation. Both Ijebuland and Remo must work together to achieve this,” he stressed.
The senator, who governed Ogun between 2003 and 2011, insisted that the clamour for Ijebu State was credible, noting that it was the only province created in 1923 yet to be upgraded into a state.
Daniel, also used the occasion to launch the BATOGD Movement, a mobilisation platform for President Bola Tinubu, whom he praised for “the greatest boldness in confronting Nigeria’s economic challenges.
He cited Tinubu’s removal of fuel subsidy and reforms in the forex market as proof of his courage, recalling that several of his own initiatives as governor were modeled after Tinubu’s policies in Lagos
Daniel described Tinubu as “a courageous reformer” who had taken bold steps to reset Nigeria’s economy.
“My relationship with President Tinubu goes back three decades. He is a reformer, and we must rally round him to succeed,” Daniel said.
The commissioning of the international market, which Daniel said would transform Igodè into a rural trade hub, attracted dignitaries .
Daniel urged the state government to rehabilitate the community’s major access road.
Daniel said the market would transform Igodè and adjoining villages into a hub of agricultural trade and rural development.
“We could have held this commissioning in a bigger town with better roads, but we deliberately chose Ìgodè for strategic reasons. I urge the state government to fix this road and open up this axis for development,” he told the gathering.
The senator disclosed that he personally funded palliative works on the road to make the venue accessible, warning that the full benefits of the market would be undermined unless government intervened.
On national issues, Daniel revealed that 75 senators had already endorsed a bill seeking the creation of a new state out of the old Ijebu Province, describing the agitation as long overdue.
“Out of all the provinces created in 1923, only Ijebu has yet to transition into a state. This agitation is credible and justifiable, and I call on everyone to support it,” he said.
He further announced progress on the ongoing naval base project at Abigi/Makun-Omi in Ogun Waterside, disclosing that the second phase would accommodate a naval secondary school and hospital.
Daniel also commended Governor Dapo Abiodun for sustaining the Agro-Cargo Airport project, noting that the proposed aviation school at Akaka Remo would soon become the second of its kind in Nigeria after Zaria.
Highlighting his interventions across Ogun East, Daniel listed scholarships, micro-credit schemes, empowerment programmes, bursaries, and free cataract surgeries as part of his constituency projects.
The Onigode of Igode Kingdom, Oba Jamiu Olalekan Sule-Onosipe, described the market as the first federal project to be sited in the community in its centuries-long history, hailing Daniel’s “strategic lobbying” as a gift that would uplift farmers and traders.
The monarch, however, appealed for further interventions, including a general hospital, secondary school absorption, rural electrification, and police barracks.
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