June 29, (THEWILL) – A former Governor of Ekiti State and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Ayodele Fayose, may have hinted at a possible move from the party to the governing All Progressives Congress (APC).
Fayose, a known ally of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, who was recently denied the vice presidential ticket of the party, on Wednesday dumped his support for the PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, when he said it is the turn of the South to produce Nigeria’s next President.
In a tweet on Wednesday, Fayose said that since the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari is from the North and will be completing eight years in 2023, it is only logical for power to return to the South.
He said, “The current President of Nigeria is on a two-term northern presidency, thus implying that it must be a southern presidency in 2023 or nothing. Nigerians should await details soon.”
When contacted, Fayose’s spokesman, Mr Lere Olayinka, told THEWILL, “What do you want to confirm again. It is on his Twitter handle”.
Many PDP leaders in the South had also frowned at the absence of Atiku Abubakar and the party’s National Chairman, Dr Iyorchia Ayu during the campaign for the recently conducted governorship election in Ekiti State in which the party came third, behind the APC and SDP.
Fayose has also maintained in the past that despite their political differences, Tinubu was his leader. Many political watchers have also observed that he has a good relationship with Tinubu.
THEWILL gathered that the picking of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State as the vice presidential candidate of the party after the initial announcement of Wike by the screening committee is part of the crisis that is rocking the main opposition party.
It would be recalled that while speaking in a programme on a national television on Wednesday morning, the Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, expressed his disappointment in the jettisoning of the screening committee’s recommendation of Wike as the vice presidential candidate.
He said, “I was among the 17-member committee set up by Atiku and 14 of us in the committee said the person should be Wike. Unfortunately, Atiku picked Okowa. That is his wisdom. You cannot ignore the decision of a committee you set up yourself and expect people to be happy. For now I have gone into hibernation.”
About the Author
AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.
