ABUJA, Nigeria — Former Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose has said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is facing an existential crisis that can only be resolved by addressing “leadership decay” at the top of the party.
Speaking on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme on Tuesday, November 11, 2025, Fayose said the PDP was “rotting from the head” and warned that more governors would soon defect to rival parties if urgent reforms were not made.
“When fish decays from the body, you can salvage it, but when it decays from the head, you cannot salvage it,” Fayose said.
“Currently, the PDP has decayed from the head.”
The outspoken former governor said he had long warned that the party was “in trouble,” citing growing divisions and poor leadership decisions that have alienated members.
“I have not come here for one day to deceive Nigerians about PDP, and I’ve not hidden the fact that I will never leave PDP,” he said.
“I have also not hidden the fact that I am a great supporter of the president as a Yoruba man. I stand to be corrected, and I have said severally that PDP is in trouble.”
Fayose revealed that he had predicted the defection of at least three governors — a prophecy he claims has already come to pass.
“After my visit here three weeks ago, Governor Diri left. He was actually the chairman of the PDP campaign screening committee, but he left. The governor of Enugu left. And the third one is the governor of Taraba, who was handed over by the president to the national chairman of the APC,” he said.
He also claimed that Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang would soon leave the party, with more defections expected to follow.
“Another one will leave very soon. Governor of Plateau will leave. But I’m telling you again, after the governor of Plateau, another governor will leave. When I come back here, I will remind you again,” Fayose said.
The PDP remains deeply divided ahead of its national convention scheduled for November 15 and 16 in Ibadan, Oyo State.
The party is currently split into two factions — one loyal to acting National Chairman Umar Damagum and the other aligned with Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), with whom Fayose is allied.
The internal rift has been compounded by conflicting court rulings.
On Friday, October 31, 2025, the Federal High Court in Abuja stopped the PDP from holding the convention, ruling that the party failed to conduct valid state congresses as required by law.
However, on Tuesday, November 4, 2025, an Oyo State High Court ordered that the convention proceed as planned, siding with Damagum.
Justice James Omotosho of the Abuja court and Justice A.L. Akintola of the Oyo court have effectively left the party in a legal deadlock, adding to the uncertainty ahead of the convention.
