Fayose warns Atiku that the PDP will not back him due to the breach of the rotation principle

FORMER Ekiti State governor Ayo Fayose has warned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate that he is unlikely to receive the backing of the party due to the way he treated Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and the breach of the rotation principle.

Last month, former vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar beat Governor Wike in the PDP primaries to clinch the party's presidential ticket. Since then he has picked Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State as his running mate to the consternation of the Wile camp, who had been expecting their man to be selected.

With several PDP governors already smarting from the fact that Alhaji Abubakar is a Fulani Muslim, who will be taking over from President Muhammadu Buhari another Fulani Muslim who has been in office for eight years, there is rancour within the PDP. Governor Fayose for instance has said power must shift to the southern part of Nigeria in 2023 after the expiration of President Buhari’s second term.

He also recounted how Alhaji Abubakar promised to make Governor Wike his running mate after he was declared winner of the PDP presidential primary election. According to the former Ekiti governor, Alhaji Abubakar failed to fulfil his promise when he settled for the Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, as his running mate.

Governor Fayose said: “Wike never said he wanted to be vice president but when Atiku visited him, he was the one who said I want you to be my VP. PDP set up a committee to recommend a running mate for the candidate and the committee voted and picked Wike but they didn’t comply with the recommendation of the committee.

“If the party is now a one-man show, we will show them that we can resist it as we are with Wike one hundred percent. When they need Wike’s money and Wike’s support, they will say, Wike is good enough.

“Wike cannot come out to say he is supporting Atiku. I dare him to say so because he knows that whatever he says will haunt him forever. If Wike supports Atiku, we will abandon him.”

He added that he does not care if his actions are perceived as anti-party activity but it is the time of the south to produce the next president. Paul Ibe, Alhaji Abubakar's spokesperson, said his principal and the party will continue to appeal to aggrieved persons within their fold to embrace dialogue.

Governor Fayose added: “ What I am saying is, it is the turn of the south and if they want to expel me, to hell with them. I am not taking money from anyone to belong to this party. If they want to rock this boat, we will help them to rock it.”