A former Minister of Aviation and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Femi Fani-Kayode, has threatened to dump the main opposition party if the National Working Committee of the PDP takes the structure of the party in Cross River State from Governor Ben Ayade.
He warned the party that if Ayade was frustrated out of the party, owing to a situation where the party structure is handed over to another person, many PDP members, including him (Fani-Kayode) would also decamp from the party.
The PDP NWC had postponed the Cross River State Congress by one week, from the initial August 8 date, owing to the inability of leaders to reach a consensus on the choice of candidates for the various positions.
The failure to reach a consensus, sources said, might not be unconnected to a plot to strip the Governor of his powers as regards the control of the state’s party structure.
Reacting to the development in a series of tweets, via his verified Twitter handle, Fani-Kayode said, “It would be a big mistake for the NWC of the @OfficialPDPNig to take the party structures in his state away from Ben Ayade, Governor of Cross Rivers State, and hand them over to anyone else. If this is done and Ayade leaves the party, 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.”
He said any attempt to undermine the Cross River Governor would have serious implications that would not be limited to the state.
“No-one, no matter how big or powerful, should think that they own the @OfficialPDPNig. 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,” the former minister warned.
