Adedapo Oluseun Abiodun (born 29 May 1960) is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

businessman and politician, who has served as Governor of

Ogun State Ogun State is a state in southwestern Nigeria. Created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State. Ogun State borders Lagos State to the south, Oyo State and Osun State to the north, Ondo State to the east, and the Republic of Benin to the ...

since 2019. He won the 2019 general elections under the platform of the

All Progressive Congress The All Progressives Congress (APC) is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Nigeria, along with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Founded on 6 February 2013 from a merger of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties, the ...

. He was the board Chairman of the

Corporate Affairs Commission Corporate Affairs Commission is a body of the Nigerian Government responsible for the regulation and management of companies in Nigeria. It was introduced in 1990 with the passing of the Companies and Allied Matters Act. It is headed by a chairman a ...

.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 The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was established in 1998 and is the electoral body which oversees elections in Nigeria. History Regulation and administration of elections The administration of democratic elections in Nige ...

Early life

Abiodun was born on 29 May 1960 in

Iperu Remo Iperu or Iperu Akesan Bale Oja is a town near the Ibu River in Ogun State in the southwestern region of Nigeria. It is the most populous town in the Remo Region of the Ikenne Local Government Area. The entire LGA has an area of 137.13 km² ...

, 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.

Education

The educational background of Abiodun remains unclear. He was involved in a certificate scandal in the build up to the 2019 general elections when he claimed in the 2015 senatorial election form for Ogun East to have graduated from

Obafemi Awolowo University Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) is a federal government-owned university that is located in the ancient city of Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1961 and classes commenced in October 1962 as the University of Ife ...

, but in the 2019 governorship form, he claimed to possess only 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

He is 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.

Politics

Abiodun is a founding member of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in

, although he is currently a member of the

(APC) defecting after the 2015 general elections. He contested the Ogun East senatorial seat on the platform of the

(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 organisations. In 2019, he contested in the

gubernatorial A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...

elections in

Ogun state Ogun State is a state in southwestern Nigeria. Created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State. Ogun State borders Lagos State to the south, Oyo State and Osun State to the north, Ondo State to the east, and the Republic of Benin to the ...

and won, under the platform of the

(APC). He was sworn in as Governor of

on 29 May 2019. 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.

Controversies

In 2018, the Cable Newspaper alleged that Abiodun was involved in certificate forgery. As a result of the

Pandora Papers The Pandora Papers are 11.9 million leaked documents with 2.9 terabytes of data that the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published beginning on 3 October 2021. The leak exposed the secret offshore accounts of 3 ...

leaks, the

Premium Times ''Premium Times'' is a Nigerian online newspaper based in Abuja in the Federal Capital Territory. It was launched in 2011. The online medium is notable for investigative journalism and Reports among other fields. Awards and nominations In 2013 ...

reported on Abiodun's involvement in two offshore companies known tax haven, the

British Virgin Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = Territorial song , song = "Oh, Beautiful Virgin Islands" , image_map = File:British Virgin Islands on the globe (Americas centered).svg , map_caption = , mapsize = 290px , image_map2 = Brit ...

. 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. http://saharareporters.com/2022/04/27/ogun-governor-abiodun-confirms-he-was-arrested-fraud-usa-warns-apc-party-not-disqualify SaharaReporters had in March 2022 published the criminal record of how Abiodun was jailed in 1986 for credit card fraud in Miami Dade Florida, USA. The governor was said to have used a pseudo name (Shawn Michael Davids) with the aim of concealing his criminal identity. The record revealed that Abiodun was jailed for committing criminal offences which bordered on credit card fraud, petty theft and check forgery. He was arrested on November 7, 1986, for fighting and injuring a police officer in an attempt to resist arrest. While being processed at the station, his fingerprint was run through the crime database and it was discovered that the Adedapo Oluseun Abiodun being processed for detention was the same as Shawn Michael Davids. His criminal record and history were thus cemented and he was jailed. According to some documents obtained by SaharaReporters, Abiodun's jail number was 8600B9436. http://saharareporters.com/2022/04/27/ogun-governor-abiodun-confirms-he-was-arrested-fraud-usa-warns-apc-party-not-disqualify

Personal life

Abiodun married Bamidele Abiodun in 1990 and had five children, including the late Olugbenga Abiodun, a Nigerian DJ also known as DJ Olu.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abiodun, Dapo 1960 births Living people Yoruba businesspeople Nigerian businesspeople in the oil industry Yoruba politicians Politicians from Ogun State Obafemi Awolowo University alumni Kennesaw State University alumni Ekiti State University alumni All Progressives Congress state governors of Nigeria 18.http://saharareporters.com/2022/04/27/ogun-governor-abiodun-confirms-he-was-arrested-fraud-usa-warns-apc-party-not-disqualify