Otunba Gbenga Daniel’s mother-in-law, Princess Sabainah Opawole, 93, was laid to rest in Abeokuta amid tributes from Ogun’s political elite
Princess Sabainah Ibironke Opawole, mother of Her Excellency Yeye Olufunke Daniel and mother-in-law of former Ogun State Governor and Senator representing Ogun East, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, was laid to rest on Friday, 17 July 2026, at Ibara Baptist Church, Isale-Igbein, Abeokuta, following a funeral and thanksgiving service that drew some of Ogun State’s most recognisable political figures.
The matriarch, born on 23 April 1933 to Princess Mariam Ladigbolu of the Oyo Kingdom’s Ladigbolu family, died peacefully on 2 July 2026 after a brief illness. She was 93.
Her passing was announced by the Opawole and Daniel families, who described her as a woman whose quiet devotion to faith and family shaped generations after her.
The programme of events opened on Thursday, 16 July 2026, with a wake keep and service of songs at Skyview Pavilion, Conference Hotels, Abeokuta. The following morning, mourners gathered for a lying-in-state at Ibara Baptist Church before the funeral and thanksgiving service began at 11am.
Gbenga Daniel’s mother-in-law was remembered not only for her private devotion but for a public legacy that reached well beyond her immediate household.
Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, who attended in person, praised her entrepreneurial spirit and moral steadiness.
“Mama was a very successful entrepreneur, disciplined, diligent, generous and selfless,” he said in his tribute.
The service also drew the two men jostling to succeed Abiodun in 2027, the All Progressives Congress candidate, Senator Solomon Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, and his Peoples Democratic Party counterpart, Oladipupo Adebutu.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was represented by his wife, Bola Obasanjo, while former Governor Ibikunle Amosun sent his wife, Olufunso Amosun, to stand in for him.
The gathering briefly took on a political flavour.
Supporters of Adebutu and Adeola exchanged campaign chants inside the church as tributes were delivered, a reminder that Ogun’s 2027 governorship contest is never far from the surface at any major public occasion.
The disruption was brief and did not overshadow the solemnity of the day.
It was Otunba Gbenga Daniel who commanded the room in its closing moments, later inviting Abiodun to walk both Adebutu and Adeola to the dance floor together, a gesture read widely as a call for unity among Ogun’s political families.
Asked about the race to succeed Abiodun, the former governor declined to pick a favourite.
“God knows who is going to be the next governor of Ogun State,” he said.
For the family, the day carried a simpler meaning.
Also read: Otunba Gbenga Daniel at 70: Tribute by President Bola Tinubu
“We thank God for the life of this Saint,” the Opawole and Daniel families said in the programme circulated ahead of the service, describing the matriarch as survived by children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator and a recipient of the D9112 Superstar Icon Award, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.
