Former Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose has launched a blistering attack on Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, accusing him of reinventing himself as an “emergency opposition mouthpiece” after allegedly receiving a cold shoulder from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Presidential Villa.

Fayose, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, claimed that Makinde’s recent criticism of Tinubu at the birthday celebration of former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was less about principle and more about personal frustration. According to him, the Oyo governor had gone to the Villa in a bid to repair his strained relationship with the President but left disappointed.

He argued that Makinde’s comments at Osinbajo’s birthday only confirmed that the visit to the Villa did not go as planned. Fayose said the governor had hoped to manage the fallout from his earlier public remarks about the Tinubu administration, but instead “met the shock of his political life” when he attempted to reconcile with the President.

Fayose maintained that the encounter effectively signalled the collapse of any reconciliation efforts between Makinde and Tinubu ahead of the 2027 general elections. In his telling, the President has now drawn a clear line, particularly regarding political calculations in Oyo State.

He alleged that Tinubu had made his stance unmistakable, insisting he would back only candidates of the All Progressives Congress in the next electoral cycle. This, Fayose suggested, leaves Makinde politically stranded, with limited room to manoeuvre either within the ruling party at the centre or in his own party.

The former Ekiti governor went further, questioning Makinde’s future in the PDP. He suggested that the party might no longer be a reliable platform for the Oyo governor, hinting that internal dynamics could shut him out of key structures before 2027.

Fayose predicted that Makinde would be forced to seek an alternative platform, alleging that the African Democratic Congress could become his preferred vehicle. He urged the APC in Oyo State to prepare for a direct confrontation with any candidate Makinde might sponsor outside the PDP, insisting that the governor’s recent outbursts against Tinubu were a direct consequence of failing to secure the “soft landing” he had hoped for at the Villa.