OPEN LETTER TO ALL PDP NATIONAL LEADERS, STAKEHOLDERS, AND MEMBERS
Dear PDP Leaders and Members,
THE MUSKETEERS ARE NOW THE UNDERTAKERS
In 2023, I remembered sending a message to the National Working Committee (NWC), leaders, and stakeholders of our great party the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the urgent need to uphold and defend the sanctity of our party’s Constitution.
At the PDP Mobilizers Conference held in Abuja in November 2023, during the stakeholders’ meeting, I made a vivid illustration: I likened the PDP to a patient in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), while the NWC, Board of Trustees (BOT), National Executive Committee (NEC), and critical leaders and stakeholders were the team of surgeons and consultants saddled with the responsibility of operating on that patient. Whether the patient survives or dies, I emphasized, depends on the quality of decisions made by the medical team. Unfortunately, as events have shown, the team failed to act decisively and constitutionally.
In 2024, I personally placed a call to the Acting National Chairman, Ambassador Umar Damagum, to express deep concern over the unconstitutional approach adopted in conducting the ad-hoc delegate election, which was to produce those who would nominate our flag bearer for the Edo State governorship election. His response was disappointing. He said, and I quote:
*“Politicians would not allow a process to begin before complaining.”*
That statement alone revealed the complacency and lack of respect for due process that has since driven the party into deeper crisis. The materials meant for the ad-hoc delegate election were shamefully delivered and handed over to Governor Godwin Obaseki — a man whose vested interest was to impose Asue Ighodalo, a political newcomer and neophyte, on the Edo PDP in violation of our Constitution and the Electoral Act. This singular act, aided and abetted by Damagum’s weak leadership and moral compromise, deepened the internal rot within our great party.
It was this same unconstitutional delivery of materials to Obaseki that prompted Governor Seyi Makinde, who was initially appointed to chair the committee responsible for conducting the ad-hoc delegate election, to resign in protest, citing that the process violated the Constitution of the PDP. Thereafter, Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State was appointed in his stead, while Paschal Adigwe, a known loyalist of former Delta Governor Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, was made Secretary.
The records are clear: both men single-handedly signed results for all 192 wards across the 18 Local Government Areas of Edo State a brazen display of electoral fraud conducted in broad daylight. That act alone not only undermined our Constitution but plunged the party into a prolonged and devastating crisis.
The same manipulative and fraudulent process was repeated during the governorship primary election, resulting in multiple court cases and legal setbacks for our party. It was also alleged that Governor Obaseki and certain members of the NWC, led by Damagum, exchanged the sum of $2 million, an allegation so grave that it prompted calls from within and outside the party for the EFCC to launch a full-scale investigation.
Today, with deep emotions and a heavy heart, I reflect on how easily this avoidable crisis could have been prevented if only the NWC and critical leaders had adhered to the Constitution and resisted the lure of personal gain. Sadly, the imposition of an unpopular candidate and the betrayal of the party’s guiding principles led directly to our woeful performance and eventual loss of the Edo State governorship election to the then opposition party.
Ironically, all those who once cheered and clapped for Obaseki during his era of impunity those who vilified patriotic leaders like *His Excellency Nyesom Wike, Chief Dan Osi Orbih, H.E. Ortom, Ayo Fayose, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, etc* have since deserted the PDP at its most critical hour.
Names such as Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa, Gov. Sheriff Oborevwori, Paschal Adigwe, Pastor Umo Eno, Gov. Douye Diri, Gov. Peter Mbah, SKE Udeh-Okoye, Atiku Abubakar, Dino Melaye, Sen. Ehigie Uzamere, Chief Tom Ikimi, Chief Mike Oghiadomhe, Sen. Yisa Braimah, Sen. Kassim Oyofo, Jimoh Ijiegbai, Marcus Onobun, Blessing Agbebaku, Hon. Friday Itulah, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, Uche Secondus, Aminu Tambuwal, and Sen. Iyorchia Ayu, among others all have jumped ship, some to the APC, and others to their new refuge, the ADC.
This gale of defections should trouble the conscience of every genuine PDP member, especially *Amb. Umar Damagum, Gov. Bala Mohammed, and Gov. Seyi Makinde,* who now stand as the architects of the party’s renewed crisis. These three, who parade themselves as the “Three Musketeers,” have instead become the undertakers, digging the grave for the very party that once gave them political identity.
They have traded principle for profit, loyalty for lucre, and collective progress for personal protection. Mark my words: as the next general election approaches, these same men will hurriedly decamp to avoid EFCC scrutiny or political accountability, just as their collaborator, former Gov. Godwin Obaseki, now hides in self-imposed exile.
At this crucial juncture, I call upon all party faithful, stakeholders, and leaders of conscience across Nigeria to rally behind Senator Sam Anyanwu, our National Secretary a man of proven integrity and commitment to rescue, reposition, and restore the confidence of Nigerians in our great party.
Let us remember that the PDP was built on a foundation of justice, equity, and fairness. It is not too late to reclaim that legacy. The future of our great party lies in the hands of those who have not sold their conscience, those who still believe in the ideals of service, and those who will stand by the truth even when it is inconvenient.
It is time to act before the surgeons bury the patient they were meant to heal.
It is therefore my sincere prayers that may *Ayu and Damagum* never befall our party again as we journey along and I also pray that may PDP in any state never witness the coming of anything or creature in the form of *Obaseki* in Jesus Name, Amen.
Signed:
Bob-Manuel Umoru, is a Political Scientist and he is presently the Publicity Secretary of PDP, Edo State Chapter.
