….says many leaders have been eased out
…PDP is now a solid platform, we’ve reached out to Obi to return – Jerry Gana
Former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has predicted that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will come fourth in the 2027 general elections, saying the opposition party is already compromised in most states.
Fayose said this on Friday while appearing on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme to x-ray the aftermath of the party’s 101st National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting.
Answering questions on insinuations that he was working against the interest of the PDP, Fayose said Nigerians know where he belongs, and he never hid his affection for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“Let us come out and be straightforward, Nigerians know where I belong at every time when it comes to issues about politics in our country. When I was a sitting governor, I did not hide my support and respect for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I never did. I was upright, I stood my ground. I visited him severally (sic) as sitting governor. I recall when he had knee surgery, I went there openly to say ‘hello’ to him. He wasn’t president at the time; Muhammadu Buhari was the president of Nigeria,” he said.
Fayose recalled how Tinubu had asked him to dump the PDP for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), which he rejected, stating that he was one of the people that told Tinubu about the sinister moves within the APC during the late President Buhari’s presidency.
“And I recall very well the President asked that I should come to APC, I said ‘No’. In fact when late President Muhammadu Buhari seemed to be playing a game, I was one of the people who said to him, the APC will do this, will do that.
“And the next thing the President, now, did was to start dancing. I started singing.
“But I remember he told me that the shortest distance between the North and the South is the APC. So, I couldn’t understand at the time, because he told me that after President Muhammadu Buhari’s four years, anybody should be able to wait for another four years,” Fayose added.
Continuing, the former governor said zoning presidency to the South would be good for the PDP, adding, however, that Tinubu’s re-election is currently the shortest distance for power to return to the North.
“So, zoning to the south by PDP is good for them. Because today, President Bola Tinubu is the shortest distance for power to return to the North,” he declared.
Speaking on whether he’s trusted within the PDP fold, Fayose said he never cared about being trusted, predicting that the party will come fourth in the coming general elections because its structures have been compromised across states.
“On whether I’m trusted or not, I don’t have to be trusted. That’s their problem. You know the situation of our party today. And it’s in my prayer that the PDP does not come fourth in the coming election.
“You know, when I came here, I said the party was already going into a carcass. And if you recall very well, the majority of people that have defected after my coming here are huge enough and have left the PDP in a carcass. The situation in PDP, pretenders can pretend but you know that the PDP had messed up. Managing the party has become an issue.
“I’m not somebody who hides, and I would never hide. Number 1, in the same PDP, the former Vice President had left, the vice presidential candidate had left,the governors had left, senators had left. So, even when you have a NEC or a convention, to where? To what end?
“Today, I’m telling you, a PDP will come fourth in the general elections. The PDP will come forth. In most states, they’re already compromised; they have eased out so many leaders. It’s good for them,” Fayose further said.
The two-term Ekiti governor said he was not just finding his feet away from the PDP, reminding the anchor he was a part of the G5. Fayose added that Tinubu is his kinsman and cannot throw him under the bus because he has the capacity.
“I was part of the G-5. I wasn’t the only in the G-5 at the time; we have sitting governors. Governor Wike, Governor Makinde, myself, others were part of the G5. It’s not whether I’m trying to find my feet. I was very clear.
“Then, when your kinsman wants to be president, and he has the capacity; so, what should you do? You should fight him? You should throw under the bus? I’ve been like this, not in 2027 election,” Fayose further said.
Jerry Gana: PDP is now a solid platform — we’ve reached out to Obi to return
Meanwhile,Jerry Gana, a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says steps are being taken to bring Peter Obi back into the party.
The former minister of information and ex-presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) spoke on Friday when he featured on Focus Nigeria, a programme on AIT.
Obi, the former governor of Anambra, resigned from the PDP on May 25, 2022, ahead of the 2023 elections.
Obi left the PDP days before its presidential primary, stating that “recent developments in the party do not support constructive contributions”.
The former governor was to participate in the PDP presidential primary scheduled for May 28, 2022, before he left the party.
On May 27, 2022, Obi joined the Labour Party (LP), where he became the standard-bearer and contested the 2023 presidential election.
‘Pdp Reaching Out To former members’
When asked during the programme if the party had contacted Obi about returning, Gana responded, “Why not?”
Gana said if he were former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, he would have dropped his presidential ambition in 2023 and supported Obi.
Obi came second to Abubakar, who ran under the PDP platform in the election.
Gana said he leads the delegation that the PDP has set up to lobby its former members to return.
“He [Obi] is not the only person. We are also moving to other persons. But I don’t want to announce until we really get there,” he said.
Gana said the PDP crisis is over, adding that the party is now a “credible alternative” for the 2027 elections.
“I have a very solid platform. I can now go back to these people and say the platform you were complaining about is now set, proper, and ready to move. I know many of them would respond,” he said.
Gana described the nation’s economy under the All Progressives Congress (APC) as chaotic, with soaring commodity prices and many Nigerians struggling to afford necessities.
The former minister added that the opposition party is ready to take power in 2027.
