Former Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose has claimed that three more governors from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are preparing to defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), leaving the opposition party in deeper crisis.
Fayose made the disclosure on Wednesday, October 15 during an interview on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, following the recent resignation of Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri from the PDP.
According to Fayose, the wave of defections is far from over and could soon leave the PDP with just five governors. “Let me tell you, there are three more governors that will leave soon. There will be five remaining. The five remaining, one of them will struggle to catch the ticket, and they all know that the ticket is an ordinary tissue paper,” he said.
The former governor accused some PDP governors of destroying the party from within due to their obsession with controlling its structure. “They are largely killing the party because they want to control it. This is what happened in 2023,” he added.
Fayose dismissed allegations that President Bola Tinubu is coercing opposition governors to defect to the APC, arguing instead that the defectors are motivated by personal ambition and political survival. “President Tinubu should not be blamed for PDP’s problems. The PDP is sick and remains perpetually sick without a cure in view,” he stated.
He said the crisis plaguing the PDP was the result of internal sabotage by its own leaders. “Those who killed the party know themselves. There is a difference between a former governor and a sitting governor,” Fayose noted.
Although he remains a member of the PDP, Fayose insisted that he bears no responsibility for resolving the crisis, saying the party’s current leadership must take accountability for the mess it created.
Fayose’s comments come amid growing concern over the opposition’s weakening influence following a series of defections by governors, including those from Enugu, Delta, Akwa Ibom, and Bayelsa States, in recent weeks.