A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Femi Fani-Kayode, has threatened to dump Nigeria’s main opposition party.
The former Minister of Aviation made this known in a statement on his Twitter page on Tuesday night. Fani-Kayode was reacting to a media report that the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) was planning to take away the party structures in Cross River State from Governor Ben Ayade of Cross Rivers state.
He noted that if the leadership of the party goes ahead with the plan, many PDP members all over the country would leave the party and defect to another party ahead of the 2023 general elections.
Fani-Kayode advised the PDP not to undermine governor Ayade or attempt to humiliate him in his own state and before his people. He explained that the action will spark off a crisis in the party that will split it right down to other states.
He wrote: “It would be a big mistake for the National Working Committee of the PDP to take the party structures in his state away from Ben Ayade, the Governor of Cross Rivers state, and hand them over to anyone else. If this is done and Ayaade leaves the party be rest assured that many of us will leave with him.
“You cannot and must not undermine a sitting Governor or attempt to humiliate him in his own state and before his people. Some of those that are advocating and behind this nonsense would never allow it to happen in their own states. A word is enough for the wise.
“No-one, no matter how big or powerful, should think that they own the PDP. If there is any attempt to undermine Ayade it will spark off a crisis in the party that will split it right down the middle and the consequences will not be limited to Cross Rivers state.”