I’d have burnt my PDP card if Sheriff had won – Fayose

Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has said he would have burnt his Peoples Democratic Party’s membership card and flag if Senator Ali Modu Sheriff had won at the Supreme Court on Wednesday.


Fayose, who is also the Chairman, PDP Governors’ Forum, said he went to court with the intention of destroying his PDP card and flag if the judgment of the court did not favour Senator Ahmed Makarfi as the chairman of the party’s caretaker committee.

The Supreme Court, in a unanimous judgment, declared Makarfi as the authentic chairman of the party to put an end to the leadership crisis in the party.

Speaking in Ado-Ekiti on Friday, the governor, who said Sheriff and members of his faction had been forgiven, added that they must show remorse for causing the party members so much trouble.

He said, “I never imagined myself being in the same party with impostors.

“I went to court with a bottle of perfume, which I wanted to use to spray my card and party flag and set them ablaze, even on the court premises if Sheriff had won. That was why I went to court.

“Though, I believe that we remain the same PDP family but no one can cause our party such trouble and embarrassment and expect that he would go without being asked to account for his actions.

“Even the reactions of Sheriff’s people show that we are together. But the ‘no victor, no vanquished’ statement we made was a mere political slogan. Whoever participated in the matter must show some reasonable level of remorse for their actions.”

With Makarfi’s victory, the governor said the PDP would be revived to play its role as the opposition so as to dislodge President Muhammadu Buhari and Acting President Yemi Osinbajo in the 2019 presidential election.

Fayose also said his presidential ambition was still alive.

He said, “I am an early starter and that has been my style of politics. In 2003, I started earlier and I defeated Niyi Adebayo and also Dr. Kayode Fayemi in 2014.

“I want to tell you that the All Progressives Congress won’t return to the (Presidential) Villa. We shall defeat both Buhari and Osinbajo; we are removing the two of them together and I want you to believe this.”

In a related development, a socio-cultural group, Apapo Egbe Omo Ekiti (also known as Ekiti Collectives), has thrown its weight behind Fayose’s aspiration to vie for the Presidency in 2019.

The group also urged political parties in the state to pick their candidates from the South Senatorial District for the 2018 governorship election.