Former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has threatened to work against Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State if the governor does not stop disrespecting him.
Fayose in a live interview with Punch said “If Governor Makinde continues to disrespect me, I will work against him.”
The South-West zone of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has been embroiled in a crisis with Fayose and Makinde engaged in a leadership tussle.
The opposition party boasts of Makinde as its only governor in the South-West region while the All Progressive Congress, APC, controls the other five states.
Fayose boasted that he was one of the arrowheads that worked for the emergence of Makinde as the Oyo State governor in the 2019 election.
The former Ekiti State governor warmed Makinde to retrace his step unless he will work against his re-election.
He further urged Makinde to speak out if he has anything against him.
Speaking on what the bone of contention between himself and the Oyo State governor was, Fayose said, “He (Makinde) is the one to tell you if there is any bone of contention. In this West, I am his brother, I am his father.”
Fayose said, “When Makinde was to contest, I was the one that presented the flag to him and a red pen. It is a higher authority that hangs your rank, a senior officer hangs the rank of a junior officer, which means he saw me as a leader at the time I was giving him the flag at Ogbomosho.
“It was Governor (Rasheed) Ladoja that was holding the structure that we gave to him (Makinde), I was the only sitting governor at the time. I had the powers to influence it negatively. Are you telling me the man that gave you red pen has suddenly become your enemy? If he has anything against me, let him say it. Governor Makinde should take it easy.
“When they were contesting election in Oyo State, I was the one giving him information about the senatorial election. I never slept all night. In his own election, I was with him in Ibadan. If he disrespects us, we will tell him that we have the capacity to… I am not his mate.
“If he wants peace, he should stop that nonsense, I say it again nonsense. I mean every word I am saying. I’m a responsible Nigerian. If we were born in the same family, I will be older than Governor Makinde by 10 years even if I was not governor. I should be respected. I am a respectable figure in this country, forget any other story any other politician may say.”
Fayose also said he has no plan to join the APC or any other political party. “We need a certain level of honour, we need a certain level of principles to be able to lead in this country,” he noted.