Former Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has dismissed reports of his expulsion from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), insisting that no party organ has the authority to remove him.
Speaking in an interview with AF24NEWS, Fayose also launched a scathing attack on the judge who approved the controversial PDP National Convention in Ibadan, describing him as a “chop-chop judge.”
Reacting to his name being listed among those allegedly expelled at the Ibadan convention, Fayose argued that the action carries no legal weight, as the court had already ruled against the convention’s legality.
“Nobody expelled me,” he said.
“The court says all they did in that convention should not be recognised. So the pronouncement cannot be recognised in itself. A pronouncement by the PDP or any political party does not override the court of the land.”
Fayose added that anyone insisting otherwise is ignoring legal reality, stating:
“If you say this person is a chief and God says he’s not a chief, you have to respect that.”
The former governor also criticised the PDP leadership, blaming it for the party’s ongoing crisis. He warned that attempts to seize party structures would backfire:
“When you try to corner party structures because you want to lead the people, you don’t destroy structures. If you attempt to destroy people, many who you think are fools will gather against you.”
Fayose went further in attacking the judge who ruled in favour of the Ibadan convention, alleging ulterior motives and a deal with Governor Seyi Makinde.
“The judge is a chop-chop judge. I’ve said it to the paper. The judge wants to retire. He’s leaving in a few months, so he took a deal from Governor Makinde,” Fayose claimed.
“He was only buying time. How do you grant an ex parte order that compromises the end of your judgment?”
He stressed that multiple cases regarding the matter were already before the courts, insisting that the Federal High Court—not a state high court—is the proper venue.
Despite the controversy, Fayose affirmed his loyalty to the PDP, dismissing the Ibadan convention as a clique-driven affair:
“May I say to you, I am a member of the PDP. Whatever they said at that so-called convention, at that committee-of-friends dinner, that’s what I call them, means nothing.”
