Former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has denied resigning from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying he still remains a member of the party. Fayose said he did not resign from the PDP but only stepped aside so as to be able to speak truth to power without the fear of his view being tainted by party colouration.
The former governor had on Wednesday while appearing as a guest on ARISE TV announced his resignation from the PDP as well as quitting partisan politics.
Announcing his resignation, Fayose said, “From today, I stay off PDP.” When asked if that was a resignation, he said, “Let me put it this way, in party politics. Because there are certain facts. I am 62. I say it here from today. I step aside because I must be talking like a leader in this country.”
But, Fayose in a statement he personally signed and made available to newsmen in Ado-Ekiti on Friday said his comment was misconstrued as his membership of PDP was lifetime. He said, “I am still a bonafide member of the PDP. I only said I stepped aside because I need to speak the truth to power without the fear of my view being tainted by party colouration.
“Resigning from a political party has procedures and same will be followed if I strongly find the need to leave the party. It is important that we have somebody that can say the truth without wearing any party toga. I am a member of the PDP, I am a member of the PDP National Executive Committee, a member of the party caucus, member of the Board of Trustees based on my position as a former chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum. It’s a lifetime membership. But Nigeria is bigger than any party.”
He clarified that though he is not a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he deeply respects the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. He insisted that Tinubu won the presidential election because of the intractable irreconcilable differences in the PDP and failure of its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to broker peace with the G-5 governors and other aggrieved leaders of the party.
The Nation
