FORMER governor of Ekiti State Ayodele Fayose has resigned as a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He announced this on Wednesday, March 1, during an interview with Arise TV, hours after his party lost the presidential elections to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He stated that the actions of the party’s National Chairman Iyorchia Ayu and the presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar led to the defeat of the party at the polls.
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Fayose said he had earlier suggested that the presidential candidate should campaign for one term in office to win the support of some party members and Nigerians.
This advice was ignored, which contributed to the defeat, according to Fayose.
“I was invited by His Excellency Atiku Abubakar to a hotel in Lagos. I told him four things, that there were four demands they made of you. One, you are seventy-six as of last year.
“The G-5 said you are already a candidate, you can’t abort a child that has been given birth to. But let us go back and tell the Southerners that you will spend four years so that it would not look like it will be eight to eight years back to back for the North, because Buhari is leaving and he is representing the North irrespective of the party,” Fayose noted.
The ex-governor urged the party to concede defeat, and avoid sponsoring protests across the country.
Although Fayose said he is no longer involved in partisan politics, he urged residents of Lagos State to vote for the APC governorship candidate ahead of the gubernatorial elections.
“The PDP candidate in Lagos to me, they are people doing theatre. Lagos business is a serious business. There are lots of challenges in Lagos. So I enjoin everybody in Lagos to return Sanwo-Olu,” Fayose said.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via vopara@icirnigeria.org or @ije_le on Twitter.