A former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, says he has not dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Fayose said he still remains a “bonafide” member of the PDP, noting that he did not resign from the opposition party but only stepped aside.

The former governor while speaking on Arise TV on Wednesday announced his resignation from the PDP.

He also disclosed that the PDP presidential candidate in the just concluded presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, rejected the offer of one term in office to get the support of the party’s aggrieved governors, known as G5.

“From today, I stay off PDP. Let me put it this way, in party politics. Because there are certain facts.

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“I am 62. I say it here from today, I step aside because I must be talking like a leader in this country,” Fayose had said.

However, the former governor, in a statement issued on Friday, said he didn’t resign from PDP, urging Nigerians to continue to support and vote for the party in the forthcoming governorship and Houses of Assembly elections.

He stated: “I am still a bonafide member of the PDP. I only said I stepped aside because I need to speak the truth to power without the fear of my view being tainted by party colouration.

“Resigning from a political party has procedures and same will be followed if I strongly find the need to leave the party.

“It is important that we have somebody that can say the truth without wearing any party toga.

“I am a member of the PDP, I am a member of the PDP National Executive Committee, a member of the party caucus, member of the Board of Trustees based on my position as a former chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum.

“It’s a lifetime membership. But Nigeria is bigger than any party,” Fayose noted.

The two-term former governor of Ekiti State added that he is not a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying he will never be a member of the party.

The Star