Born
Olusegun Idowu Bolanle Gbeleyi was born in Ibadan on the 11th October, 1962 to the Rt Hon Ebenezer
Adetokunboh Olurinde Gbeleyi, the Otun Oba of Igbesaland in Ogun State and Alhaja (Chief) Mrs Falilatu
Amope Gbeleyi, nee Animashaun of Lagos Island in Lagos State. His late father, was a Field Organising
Secretary for the Action Group (A.G) from 1952-1959. His father later served as Personal Assistant to Chief
Samuel Ladoke Akintola, the last Premier of Western Nigeria from 1959 to 1964. He got elected as
Honourable member representing Egbado South Federal Constituency and was made a Parliamentary Secretary & Junior Minister for Labour under the Sir Tafawa Balewa Government, a position his father held until the first Military Coup of January, 1966. His mother was an astute textiles & provision trader with distributorship at SCOA in Apogbon, Lagos Island.
No wonder that Rt Hon Olusegun Bolanle Gbeleyi a.k.a. OBG ventured into politics on his return from the United Kingdom after 15 years.
Political accomplishments:
Rt. Hon. Olusegun Bolanle Gbeleyi, was elected in 1999 as the member representing Ado-Odo/Igbesa State
Constituency under the platform of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) into the Ogun State House of Assembly. He was subsequently elected by His Honourable colleagues as the Deputy Speaker and served meritoriously to the end of his 4-year tenure (1999 to 2003).
Whilst in the House of Assembly, he was twice an official delegate to the 46th Commonwealth Parliamentry Association (CPA) Conference in the UK in 2000 and also at the 48th CPA Conference in Namibia in 2002. At his first appearance at the 46th CPA Conference in London in year 2000, Rt Hon Gbeleyi presented a paper on “Debts Cancellation as a tool for Sustaining Democracy in the Developing Nations,” and moved the motion which was unanimously carried for the debts relief for Nigeria and it was fully implemented during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s two terms in office as the Executive President of Nigeria.
He played a prominent role in the creation of additional Local Government Areas which was successfully carried out under His Excellency Chief Olusegun Osoba, CON. Hon Gbeleyi was also a proponent of the restoration of the 52 Local Government Areas and OBG was delighted when the law was amended to pave the way for additional 37 LCDAs and elections conducted by the immediate past Governor, His Excellency, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, CON, FCA for the 57 LGA/LCDA which has brought government nearer to the people.
In 2007, he contested for the Ogun West Senatorial seat on the platform of Action Congress (AC) and lost.
In 2019, he contested for the Ogun West Senatorial seat on the platform of Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM) and lost.
From 2016 – 2018, he served as the Consultant on Power to His Excellency, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, CON, FCA. He and his other colleagues on the Energy and Power team supervised the successful implementation of an Independent Power Project (IPP), Lisabi Power that now supplies power to all government facilities in Abeokuta, including streetlights, and private offtakers. They also left behind ongoing 12 similar IPPs across the State, including Ipokia, Ota and Agbara. He also supervised the new Transmission power-lines projects of 203 km in Ogun State by the Transmission Commission of Nigeria (TCN). He resigned to contest for the Ogun West Senatorial Seat at the 2019 general elections.
He was a foundation member of the All Progressives Congress, (APC). Following the crisis of the APC primaries, he picked another platform to contest the 2019 general election and has since returned back home to the APC.
During his 15-year stay in the United kingdom, his community accomplishments included the following:
First Nigerian to publish a tabloid newspaper in the UK, called "The Socialite" launched in 1989.
Executive Member of Britain-Nigeria Association (BNA) London, 1993-1998.
Publicity Secretary of Nigerian National Union (NNU) UK, 1991-1993, it is the NNU that got President
Ibrahim Babangida to sign the decree for dual Nationality for Nigerians at the twilight of his exit from power.
In 1993, he was appointed by the Home Office - on the recommendation of the London Metropolitan Police Commission - as a Lay Visitor Panel member for Southwark Borough of London (1993-1996), to visit police stations on inspection of how detainees were kept in police holding cells, following complaints of deaths in police custody, of people from ethnic minority groups.
As Chairman, Family Immigration Rights UK, 1994-1996, he secured the sponsorship of the Churches
Commission for Racial Justices (CCRJ) - in collaboration with the Joint Council for Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) – and prevailed upon the Home Office to grant amnesty to overstayers with children born in the UK aged 5 years and above.
Traditional titles held:
Installed as Arole Otunba of Igbesaland in 1996 and also bagged the title of Adimula of Odan Abuja in Ejila Awori in 2006.
A politician, an administrator, journalist, publisher, teacher, trainer, human rights crusader, public commentator and a farmer.
Professional Membership:
Member British Association of Journalists (BAJ) London.
Member Institute of Directors (IOD) London.
Family status and Faith:
A Christian of the Baptist faith.
OBG is happily married to Lady Joyce Adesola Gbeleyi, with two daughters and a son.
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