Fayose declares that he will never join APC after Ekiti chapter says he would not be welcome

EKITI State governor Ayo Fayose has dismissed suggestions that he is planning to dump the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) following the failure of his candidate Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State to clinch the party's presidential ticket.

Over the weekend, after a tight contest, for vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar emerged as the PDP presidential candidate with 1,532 votes beating off a challenges from 11 other candidates. Governor Fayose and the Rivers State governor Nyesom Wike, who hosted the congress, had backed Governor Tambuwal and after he lost, appeared disaffected with the party for not supporting their choice.

After the congress, it had been reported that Governor Fayose felt slighted by the party, claiming that he and Governor Wike had been the ones keeping the PDP afloat over the last three years. There had been suggestions that he was planning to defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), which some commentators had even linked to the fact that he is facing corruption charges.

Yesterday, Governor Fayose said he would spend the next few days consulting with his supporters before deciding on his next course of action. However, in a swift response, Paul Omotosho, the chairman of the Ekiti State chapter of the APC, said that Governor Fayose was not welcome within the party.

Mr Omotosho said: “Fayose should not think of moving from PDP to APC until he clears himself of several criminal cases hanging on his neck.”

Reacting to the ongoing drama, Governor Fayose said: “APC my foot. I will never have anything to do with the APC.

“For the party’s leaders to be saying that Fayose is coming to APC amounts to unnecessary dissipation of energy. I will never, ever, go to APC and will never ever have anything to do with the party.”

Tanko Beji, the chairman of the Niger State chapter of the PDP, added that Governor Fayose, a vocal founding member of the PDP, had no reason to dump the party. He said he wondered why the governor should take the loss of the ticket to heart when Governor Tambuwal had already congratulated the winner.

Mr Beji added: “Fayose is the chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum and he cannot abandon the position and leave the party in the middle of the sea. Fayose cannot cry more than the bereaved, so I will advise him not to take a step he could regret later.

“Fayose is a bold democrat we all respect in PDP, a majority of PDP members have accepted Atiku, so Fayose cannot say no. What I expect Fayose to do is to join the majority. He has the right to be angry but this is democracy and the majority has spoken."

He also dismissed claims that some of the PDP candidates for next year’s general election were sponsored by the opposition. According to Mr Beji, the PDP primaries were successful at all levels and the party was set to confront and defeat every rival in the 2019 general elections.