Dapo Abiodun was born on 29 May 1960 in Iperu Remo, Ogun State, to the royal family of Iperu. He was born into the family of Dr. Emmanuel Abiodun and Mrs. Victoria Abiodun from Iperu Remo, in Ogun East senatorial district. Abiodun is a Nigerian businessman and politician, who has been the Governor of Ogun State since winning the 2019 general elections under the platform of the All Progressive Congress. Dapo Abiodun was the board Chairman of the Corporate Affairs Commission. Prior to his assumption of office, he was the managing director of Heyden Petroleum and the founder of First Power Limited. On 10 March 2019, he was declared Governor-Elect of Ogun State by the Independent National Electoral Commission and sworn in later.
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Education
The educational background of Abiodun remains unclear. He was involved in a certificate scandal in the build-up to the 2019 general elections. He claimed in the 2015 senatorial election form for Ogun East to have graduated from Obafemi Awolowo University, but in the 2019 governorship form, he claimed to possess only a secondary school certificate of education. In an interview with Seun Okinbaloye on Channels Television in December 2018, Abiodun “claimed to have never gotten a degree from Obafemi Awolowo University”. He claimed to have been a student of the institution but didn’t graduate from the school
Career and Politics
Abiodun was the Managing Director/CEO of the Nigerian oil and gas company Heyden Petroleum Ltd (HPL). He is also reportedly the founder of First Power Limited. He is a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, although he is currently a member of the All Progressive Congress (APC) defecting after the 2015 general elections. He contested the Ogun East senatorial seat on the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the 2015 Nigerian general elections which he lost to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate. He was elected a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the platform of the defunct United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP) in 1998. He has served as a member of various presidential committees and organizations.
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In 2019, he contested in the gubernatorial elections in Ogun state and won, under the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC). He was sworn in as Governor of Ogun State on 29 May 2019.
Controversies
In 2018, the Cable Newspaper alleged that Abiodun was involved in certificate forgery.
As a result of the Pandora Papers leaks, the Premium Times reported on Abiodun’s involvement in two offshore companies known as a tax haven, the British Virgin Islands. The report noted that Abiodun owned and was the sole director of both Marlowes Trading Corporation and Heyden Petroleum Limited in apparent violation of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act as neither company was declared when Abiodun was elected Governor. Abiodun himself avoided questions on the topic but an associate of Abiodun claimed that the governor had meant to dissolve the companies but didn’t notice that they had not been dissolved yet.
He claims he is a born-again Christian and worships with the Mountain of Fire and Miracle Ministry. He has testified that despite much opposition to him getting into the office of Ogun state governor God still got him there.
References
Naijalitz.com
wikipedia.org/
Featured image: Premium times
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