Why I Worked Against Atiku, Pdp In 2023 Elections –Fayose

Ayodele Fayose is a former governor of Ekiti State and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In this interview monitored on Channels Television, he speaks on his membership of the party, why he worked against the presidential candidate of the party, and his support for the All Progressives Congress (APC) Federal Government, among other issues, ANAYO EZUGWU reports

Are you still a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)?

Very correct, I am a member of the PDP except PDP says ‘Fayose, we don’t want you anymore’ then they set me free of the hooks. But in all sincerity, PDP is a party that I believe in, I subscribe to and I want to say that I will never join the All Progressives Congress (APC).

But there are people who believe that bodily you may not be in APC, but in spirit and conduct, you are behaving like a member of the ruling party…

I have never hidden my position on Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and let me remind you very quickly that I never knew Tinubu would be President of Nigeria and there was no intention in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. Every birthday of Asiwaju Tinubu, I celebrate him on the pages of newspapers as the then governor of Ekiti State. And one of the messages I passed across at that time is that party politics notwithstanding, he will remain our leader in the South- West for long and for too long.

And that is not deniable because he wasn’t the president in 2015, 2016 and 2017. When the APC was playing games, I stood up to remind President Muham- madu Buhari that Tinubu was largely instrumental to his coming as president of Nigeria. As a Yoruba man, he deserves to be accorded some respect and in 2021, I said all the shenanigans against Tinubu, those behind it would be defeated.

I never knew he would be president of Nigeria, and when he came back from the knee surgery trip he went for, I openly during the day went to Bourdillon to welcome him back to Nigeria. I counted the cost before I took those actions. If Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not an example to identify with, somebody like me would not have identified with him. And let me tell you, till today, I have not materially benefited from Asiwaju Tinubu.

Let me equally tell you that during the election that brought the former governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, in 2009, I was in Bourdil- lon with Tinubu and he was the leader of the then Action Congress (AC), he told me to join AC but I refused. He told Governor Fayemi to ‘support Ayo Fayose in whatever party he belongs to become a senator in 2011’ but they brought Babafemi Ojodu from nowhere to become the senator.

That clearly shows that I had a relationship with Asiwaju Tinubu. I was the first Nigerian despite being a member of the PDP to say it is the turn of the South and without apology, I repeat it again that I have no regret making that statement. Beyond party politics, we must be upright as leaders of our country to say things as they are. Nobody in Nigeria has done a throwback on me for inconsistency of my statements and assertions; nobody has said that against me.

So, for PDP members saying this about me; let me remind them again that I am 63 years of age and I won’t jump from one bed to another. I would rather leave politics if it gets to that stage. When Buhari became President in 2015; a majority of PDP members took us to where we are today. PDP would have still been in power by now. Criticising Tinubu now after the party was badly balkanized; would that be the fault of Ayo Fayose?

I never hid my position on the G5 and I openly came out to say that I supported Tinubu. Now, the election has come and gone and we are in governance, do we now say that Tinubu is the President of APC? The answer is no. If I can go to Bourdillon to see him during the day without hiding, going to the Villa is what. I was a governor when Tinubu was also a governor. We were the second class because Tinubu’s group was the class one.

So, in all entitlement, I say it boldly, I am a leader in this country and if I need to see Tinubu again tomorrow, I will tell him that I’m coming and I will go there. Former governors of PDP and APC are all preparing to go and see Asiwaju. They sent a message to us to come to Senator Gbenga Daniel’s house, so that they can book an appointment to see him. Is it to go and congratulate him or to inform him to remember them as former governors?

Where is the place of loyalty when you say you supported a member of another party?

Don’t get it wrong; we did not support Atiku Abubakar and we did not hide it. We worked against Atiku 100 percent because Nige- ria is bigger than PDP, APC and Tinubu himself. Let us call a spade a spade because I am not a man that will hide his actions.

I supported Tinubu and you know that Senator Dino Melaye said the results from Ekiti were questionable. The answer is that we pro- vided the difference. If PDP says it doesn’t need me again, it cannot say that I cannot live.

But I love the PDP and that is why I’m no longer hitting hard at the party. PDP has never been fair to me. I was the only one that fought President Buhari and if I had defected to another party as a sitting governor, I would have had honour but I’m a principled man.

Let me say to you that I never worked for the PDP in the last election because I can’t work for two people at the same time.

As a PDP member; is it morally and politically justifiable for you to openly say that you worked against the candidate of your party?

This is not the first time I will say this thing because I am not a pretender of any sort. The reality is that I worked for Tinubu and he is a South-West and Yoruba man of note. Tinubu is a respected per- son in the South-West, and let me tell you again that if a northerner had won the election, you would not see those people going to the Villa. It is the turn of the South because Buhari had done eight years.

When there is a problem in our society, it is the elders that will resolve that problem. I am a responsible Nigerian and my position is that it is the turn of the South. In 2015, a majority of our party members, including the former Vice president, Atiku Abubakar, left PDP and went to support Buhari, so don’t let us go there. If the National Working Committee of the party does something, there will be another set of leaders who would understand that.

When you don’t do the right thing, you will not get the right results. Because I said it is the turn of the South, the same PDP expelled my son and suspended me. A man that has suffered tremendously for PDP; cannot forget me in a hurry because I stood my ground on the affairs of Nigeria the same way I’m standing my ground now. What do I want to gain when our party was playing games?

I was a member of the zoning committee and my position was that it must be the turn of the South. Others might hide but I’m not hiding; I said that it is the turn of the South.

So, for you, it is a matter of injustice by the party and the fact that you and your son were suspended by the party…

The issues are beyond my son and myself. The issues of my son and myself were later incidences. The issues are simply issues of loyalty to Nigeria and loyalty to the party. We never knew whether would win the election or not. We never knew whether Peter Obi would win the election or not.

What we simply did was stand on the side of Nigeria, which is eight years of the North and another eight years of the South. If Obi had won this election, what I’m saying is what I would be saying. The North, through Buhari has done eight years and I’m telling you again without apologies that it is the turn of the South.

If PDP takes action against me, I will take them to court because power does not stop with a political party. Already I’m in court on another matter and it is part of democracy. Nobody can suppress anybody’s voice and if anybody suppresses my voice, I will say things more than this and I will create more problems than this.

I am entitled to my voice, especially in matters like this because our right as a political party stops when the rights are infringed upon at the expense of the Nigerian constitution and in the interest of Nigerians. So, I did not hide, I supported Asiwaju in Ekiti and joined hands to work for Asiwaju. So, the issues of my son and myself were issues of a later time.

Is it true that you went to the Villa to beg the President over your case with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)?

Before I go into that, we had a conversation about loyalty and I want to remind PDP members and Nigerians about something. In 2011, the party zoned the speakership of the House of Representatives to South-West but rather than everybody to follow suit, Aminu Tambuwal took that slot. So, people criticizing me should be students of history to remember that when a party takes a position, we still have people that have different positions.

Recently, Senator Abdulaziz Yari contested for the Senate presidency despite his party’s position. So, they should not go to that area. Coming back to your question, may I say to you that President Tinubu has no power to stop the EFCC trial? My trial has been on for over five years, so bringing him into that is cheap blackmail by people who are uncomfortable. Already, there is a case in court.

Will President Tinubu tell the EFCC to stop it or will he call the judge? We should be reasonable in our comments and above all, this matter is before the court, it is not right for me as a defendant to start saying things concerning the matter. Let us preserve the integrity of the system.

The PDP believes it won the 2023 presidential election, what is your view on the party’s position?

Don’t let us pre-empt the court although it is everybody’s right to say that they won the election. It is Tinubu’s right to say he won the election; it is PDP’s right to claim that they won the election and it is Obi’s right as well but they have all submitted to the jurisdiction of the court.

So, don’t let us take this matter off the hands of the court. I don’t want to hit the PDP neither do I want to hold brief for APC or Tinubu in matters that are before the court. For me, in a matter of six months, we will hear the outcome and the position of the court.

Nobody will tell you that my market is bad as everybody will always claim that his own is original. But let us put Tinubu aside, who won this election between Atiku and Obi? If the two of them cannot determine who among them won this election, then we are practically wasting our time. And I will say this; our party was badly balkanized before the election. I’m not saying this to hit the PDP but I’m being realistic.

Aren’t you one of those who helped in balkanizing PDP because there were intentional acts with some of your friends to destroy the chances of Atiku Abubakar?

I did not deny that because everybody exists for a reason. The reason is that I want the South to be president and I am not sorry about that. The North has done eight years and it is the turn of the South.

Would you have supported Peter Obi since you wanted a southern president?

Let me tell you very clearly that in the G5 and in our last meeting, we took the following decisions; anywhere Obi has the upper hand, work for Obi there and that was why Governor Samuel Ortom worked for Obi. In Ekiti, it was Tinubu that had the chance and I and those who believed in me work for him.

That was the pattern and there is no denying it. The governor of Cross River had Obi as the major issue in his state and they worked for Obi. So, don’t let us deny the reality because I worked for Tinubu. I cannot at this age deny what I did.

Do you want me to work for a party that suspended my son? It is not possible. Do you want me to work for a party that dissolved the state executive because I said it is the turn of the South? The answer is no. I just told you now that the PDP zoned the speakership to the South-West in 2015 but Tambuwal divided the system and took that position and became the speaker.

Yari fought APC in a bid to take the Senate presidency. I worked for Tinubu and I didn’t start today to work for him and it is because of my belief in his person, and I’m not looking for a position.

So, if President Tinubu offers you a ministerial position, you will not accept it?

I will never take it. I want to be honest with you. Some people may not like to hear this, but any of us that has reached the age of 65 and above, Tinubu should tell us to bring our children because their future has already been stolen.

In my view and I shared it with Asiwaju, if the future is for these young people, appointments should be 40 percent for oldies like us, 30 percent for women and 30 percent for young people. I told the President that it is his duty to take what he wants because my view is just an advice.

The majority of the oldies have had a test of government more than three times. Yes, they are still relevant to governance and they have a lot to offer but young people in government must be 30 percent and women 30 percent

Source: new telegraph