Former Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose has accused Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde of contributing significantly to the crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Fayose claimed that he withdrew from the affairs of the party and left what remained of its structure to Makinde, whom he blamed for the internal challenges facing the opposition party.
The former governor also attributed what he described as Makinde’s political difficulties to his alleged “inordinate ambition.”
Speaking during an appearance on TVC’s Politics Tonight, Fayose recalled an earlier conversation with Makinde in which the Oyo governor allegedly assured him that he would not work against President Bola Tinubu.
He said:
“Makinde caused these problems, even losing out in the PDP, he caused it. We all filed under the G-5 to contest the 2023 election. The question Nigerians should ask us is: what went wrong under the G-5?
“Why is Makinde here? Why is Wike here? It’s very obvious that when you have inordinate ambition, you will have problems.
“Governor Makinde called me when I saw a flyer on TV where they were promoting him as Makinde for President. I forwarded that to him and he called me back immediately. He called me back saying that I should not mind those boys because they are looking for money. He said I should not mind them because they are jobbers looking for money.
“He told me that if he wanted to contest, he would say it himself and he would not be the Yoruba man who would be used against another Yoruba man like Asiwaju. God is my witness, and let him deny it.”
Fayose further alleged that Makinde took control of the PDP structure in Ekiti State away from him and handed it over to other individuals.
“Makinde took the whole structure of PDP from me and gave it to some characters that I don’t want to talk about, so I left the carcass of the party for him,” he added.
The remarks come amid continued internal divisions within the PDP, with senior members and political leaders differing over the party’s leadership, alliances and direction ahead of the 2027 general elections.
BACKSTORY:
The disagreement between Ayodele Fayose and Seyi Makinde is rooted in longstanding tensions within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), particularly over the party’s leadership, political alliances and direction ahead of the 2027 elections.
The PDP has faced internal divisions since the 2023 presidential election, when the G-5 governors, led by then-Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, refused to support the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar. The group argued that the party’s leadership had failed to address its demands over internal power-sharing.
Fayose and Makinde have also had disagreements over control of PDP structures in the South-West. Their political differences are not new; Fayose previously criticised Makinde over his involvement in PDP affairs in the region.
More recently, Fayose has continued to comment on Makinde’s relationship with President Bola Tinubu and the governor’s political positioning ahead of 2027. The latest remarks have therefore added another layer to the ongoing debate over Makinde’s political future and the direction of the PDP
