The South-West chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has lambasted former Minister for Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, for claiming that he had wronged President Muhammadu Buhari in the past.
Chief Sanya Atofarati, Publicity Secretary of the South-West PDP, said nothing had changed about Buhari as the socio-political and economic situations in the country were getting worse by the day under his watch.
He challenged Fani-Kayode to come out clean, describing him as a “political liability” “unstable as wind” and a “political beggar.”
Recall that the controversial ex-minister had officially defected from the PDP to the APC on Thursday and was presented to Buhari at the Presidential Villa by the APC caretaker chairman, Mai Mala Buni.
The southwest PDP, in a statement titled, ‘‘FFK: South-West PDP hails APC for inheriting liability.’’ in reaction to the defection, said, “This was a man who openly accused President Buhari of corruption allegation as Minister of Petroleum in 1977 and cursed himself to death in 2019 if he ever attempted to join the Buhari-led APC.
“Now, the question for Fani-Kayode is: what has changed? Have the unemployed Nigerians been employed under Buhari? Has Buhari now been able to curb the killing spree of Nigerian soldiers and kidnappings of innocent citizens by bandits and herders across the country?
“For some of us and especially the South-West PDP, we knew the featherweight politician would defect to the APC because we had always been aware of his insincerity and unholy alliance. We in South-West PDP are the most grateful because the snitch within has finally gone home to roast (sic). We predicted earlier that those sabotaging the progress of this country will be exposed; now, Nigerians have seen it and we are vindicated.
“FFK should not be taken seriously. Even when he was acting as a self-acclaimed PDP spokesman, many of us knew he wasn’t sincere. He was then PDP in the day and APC in the night. FFK lacks the integrity required to portray a liberator’s stature. He is a political beggar whose only source of income is in corporate begging.
“Over the years, FFK has remained a worthless entity within the party and especially in South-West. History has it that FFK has never won any election even in his polling unit for PDP other than scavenging for political relevance.”
Similarly, the Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi, has said Fani-Kayode, played no role in his defection to the APC in November 2020.
The governor, who made this known on Friday when spoke on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily breakfast programme, described as an insult the claim by Fani-Kayode that he was instrumental in his defection last year.
The controversial ex-minister made the statement while speaking to journalists after he was presented to the Buhari.
Fani-Kayode had hinted at the possibility of the governors of Bauchi, Enugu and Oyo states dumping the PDP and joining him in the APC.
But speaking on television on Friday morning, Umahi said Fani-Kayode must withdraw his statement, adding that the ex-minister was “never” part of the discussions that led to his defection.
The governor said, “He (Fani-Kayode) needs to withdraw that statement. He is my good friend but it was an insult to my person and the other governors. The man did not know when I moved but, incidentally, he visited me and we discussed and he said he was coming to join me with other governors to declare.
“How would somebody in PDP be instrumental to my moving, a whole governor of a state, not even a small governor – an experienced governor. So, he has to withdraw the statement; he was never part of any discussion of my movement. I moved the South-East to the centre of administration; I moved to close the gap between the centre and South-East which our forefathers, like Nnamdi Azikiwe, fought for. He remains my friend but he played no role in my movement and I am sure he did not play any role in the movement of others.”