The Peoples Democratic Party Governors’ Forum has described former Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, as a “subsisting liability” to Nigerian politics, following his recent attacks on Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, over his meeting with President Bola Tinubu.
The PDP Governors’ Forum, in a statement issued on Wednesday by its Director-General, Dr Emmanuel Agbo, condemned Fayose’s partisan tirades, warning that his actions demean the nation’s political culture and undermine efforts towards good governance.
Governor Makinde held a closed-door meeting with President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on January 22 to discuss key national and state matters.
However, Fayose claimed that Makinde was not alone during the meeting, asserting that Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, accompanied him.
Fayose suggested that this indicated Makinde’s reluctance to address the President independently on certain political issues.
The former Ekiti governor further alleged that President Tinubu told Makinde he was willing to discuss matters strictly related to the governance of Oyo State but would not entertain political complaints, including Makinde’s earlier televised claims that the President was attempting to establish a one-party system in Nigeria.
In response, the PDP Governors’ Forum alleged that following multiple unsuccessful attempts to offer his services to the Presidency, Fayose had become a self-styled attack dog of the Villa.
The statement read in part: “Ordinarily, the Forum, like any sensible and focused group in Nigeria, would not join issues with characters like Fayose and confer on them the dignity they do not deserve.
“Nevertheless, even though Governor Makinde has explained to Nigerians the subject of his parley with the President, it is exigent to respond to Fayose’s latest gaffe in order to draw attention to his degenerative public demeanour and the demeaning impact it is having on the image of Nigerian politics.
“His attribution of partisan motives to Makinde’s meeting with the President, among other negative implications, portrays Tinubu as a desperate leader whose sole objective for interacting with governors of states in the country he presides over is to consolidate his hold on power.”
It added, “Fayose’s pathological tirade also suggests that the current leadership in Nigeria is focused only on political horse-trading and trade-offs, to the exclusion of issues of governance and efforts towards addressing the nation’s development needs.
“The former Ekiti State governor is indeed proving to be more a liability than an asset to the country’s body politic.
“After several failed attempts to sell his services to the Presidency, Fayose has turned into a self-appointed attack dog of the Villa, desperate for retainership and seeking an upgrade from his status as the flunkey of Nyesom Wike, whose position as a minister of the Federal Republic restrains him from condescending to Fayose’s level, even as he has severally done so.”
The PDP Governors’ Forum expressed regret over what it described as the decline in the conduct of its former chairman within Nigeria’s political landscape and urged his loved ones to seek professional help for Fayose, whom it said was showing signs of an abnormal condition.
It added, “Nigerians would indeed be deeply gratified to be rid of the ridicule that elements like him are drawing to the nation’s political character.
“Nigeria’s democracy can be harmed by elements like Fayose, who only find relevance in an atmosphere of partisan hate and crises.
“The PDPGF therefore calls on the Presidency to dissociate itself from unsolicited hounds like him for the sake of sanity and to ensure decency in the nation’s politics.”
