I did not resign from PDP,  I only stepped aside – Fayose clarifies

Contrary to reports that a former governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, has resigned from the Peoples Democratic Party, he says he has not resigned from the opposition party.

Fayose was reported to have resigned on Wednesday after his appearance on Arise TV  where he said he had stepped aside from the PDP. This happened barely 24 hours after the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, was declared the President-Elect.

This fuelled rumours that Fayose might be planning to join the APC. But Fayose told FTN that he is still a bonafide member of the PDP.

He said he only stepped aside at this time because of the need to say the truth. “There is a need for someone to say the truth without wearing any party toga,’’  he said.

His words: “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 the 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 NEC, 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.

“I am not a member of the APC and will never be a member of the party. I have never hidden my respect for Tinubu. Notwithstanding, I believe that the 2023 presidential election is free and fair and I am entitled to my views.

“I am not interested in contesting for any political position again in my life. What am I going to contest for at 62? ‘Even if ‘ I want to contest not under APC. I have said it repeatedly that I can never join APC and I am still saying it now.

“But I need to emphasise that Nigeria needs somebody who will say the truth at this critical period in our history.

“Again may I conclude here that Peter Obi is the man of the season. Asiwaju won the election, but PDP was too fractured to win an election at the Federal level. However at the State level elections are local, please continue to vote and support the PDP, especially in the governorship and houses of assembly elections.”