By Ademola Adegbamigbe
The report was everywhere, first from social media to mainstream newspapers. That is, Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State threatened to quit the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) after former Vice President Atiku Abubakar won the presidential ticket. That was during the PDP convention in Port Harcourt on Saturday 6 October 2018.
TheNEWS called one of his aides, to confirm the report. “His Excdellency is here, ask him directly”, said the aide.
Fayose told TheNEWS on phone: “Yes it is true that I threatened to dump PDP if things continue this way.”
Asked to explain further, the Ekiti Governor responded: “Politics should not be a winner takes all syndrome. It is not a one-man-show. There must be consensus in whatever we do.”
Fayose, according to another aide, was actually angry about the unilateral way the Atiku camp wanted to pick a Vice President from the South East after the chairmanship of the party already went to the South South in person of Uche Secondus.
Fayose told another medium earlier, “We have no regret aligning with River State Governor Nyesom Wike to support their Sokoto State counterpart, Governor Aminu Tambuwal, for the presidential ticket and no apologies either.
“We kept the party alive and strong when most men became ladies. We never compromised. If any group feels it can do it alone, we will see how far they can go. I may renounce my membership of the party if the need arises.
“Meanwhile, we will continue with our consultations while watching the turn of event. We cannot but appreciate leaders that have intervened so far, but this release became necessary to avoid fresh crisis or misrepresentation.”