Ayo Fayose, a former governor of Ekiti, has declared his support to Nyesom Wike, the governor of Rivers, in his struggle for justice, equity, and fairness in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The actual enemies of the party, according to Fayose, are those urging the PDP’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to call Wike and his group’s bluff.
In order for Atiku to win the upcoming election, the former governor urged those who were close to him to support him. He also cautioned Atiku against allowing ineffective individuals to ruin the party.
It was not too late to make amends and unite everyone to win the election, according to Fayose, who spoke on Friday at the opening of a top-notch community secondary school erected by Wike in Harry’s Town, Degema Local Government Area.
He referred to the Rivers governor as the party’s lifeblood and stated that the Wike group would convene as soon as possible to decide how to proceed.
“Forget whatever anybody says about you. I said it before Wike, a man with a fierce look but with a good heart, a heart of will to accomplish, to love and to support. Majority of your enemies today are not against you because of anything. They are against you because they know you have capacity.
“I want to believe that Atiku Abubakar is not against you. A lot of people surrounding the throne are enemies of the throne. A lot of people surrounding the throne have one axe to grind with somebody and they take it to where they are not supposed to take it.
“There is no living being in this party or outside that will not acknowledge your contributions to this party. You are the soul of this party. Even till now what you do how many people do it?
“There was a time in this party when I was a sitting governor, I was a nightmare to the APC and the Buhari’s government. That time when you woke up you would see Fayose. But today when you open television, you will see Wike. As your senior brother I was a lion that time. Your good works will never go unrewarded.
“The people that had benefitted from you are the people that pull you down. When sitting governors were defecting, we stood the test of time. We never for one day looked at the eyes of the APC. The good man in the history of the Bible is always the enemy of the people who don’t like the truth. Continue to do your best. Don’t give up”.
Fayose was upbeat that the party would take action and unite everyone, saying that winning the next election should be the main goal.
He recounted their meeting with Atiku when he came to Wike after obtaining the party’s nomination, adding he gave him advice on inclusivity and justice.
“I believe this party will come together. I believe the needful will be done because winning an election is all that matters. Wike hasn’t come out to say Atiku Abubakar is not the presidential candidate. He is.
“I was there the second day after the election when our candidate visited the residence of Wike. We had mutual conversation. We were all happy and everything was in place to move forward. I spoke at that meeting. We don’t want to aggravate the situation. I am only appealing to people that matter. In every political party there will be groupings, same family with different interests.
“We can do better than we are doing. People around the corridor of power, allow this candidate to win election. They say Fayose is now Tinubu’s man. When people were defecting, I never did. Loosing Ekiti election, if I go into that now you will know the source but it is not important because we must put things behind us and move forward.
“Some people believe that they have to destroy their leader before they can rise. If you are destroying any leader, you can’t rise. Wike is not a saint neither am I one. Don’t expect perfection from me. We will not want to come to Rivers here and tell Wike what he wants to hear. We will speak our mind.
“I remember I say something the day the candidate visited Governor Wike. I told him the knife is in your hand, the yam is in your hand. Cut it in a way that it will be edible. It is still not late. We can still achieve cohesion. We can still stay together and win this election. Use the knife to cut the yam and make it edible.
“Don’t let people come to you and tell you that ‘these do not matter, leave them with their local politics’. You are the man that wants to lead us. God will give you wisdom to rally everybody. My own son is a candidate in the party. He is a PDP candidate. Do I wish my son to fail? No. George Fayose is my son. With the last drop of my blood, I will stand by him.
“I came out to say it is the turn of the south, that is the position of that group at the time. I want to say to you that everybody has a way to ventilate their anger. It is not enough to allow people who do not have substance to come and destroy the party that God has given you as a candidate.
“Wike is not saying he is the vice-presidential candidate and he is not looking for it. It is important that winning this election is the ultimate, let us win together. I believe in due course, this group will meet and all their intention is let us win together” Fayose said.
