PDP Factions At War Over Warning Letters.

Factions within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were embroiled in a dispute yesterday concerning “warning letters” issued by the camp of Umar Damagum to two senior members of the National Working Committee (NWC): the National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, and the National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature.

Reflecting on the party’s increasing polarisation, former Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose said the PDP was in a “terminal coma without the hope of survival.”

The two letters, dated 30 September, were sent to the party officers by a section of the NWC. They advised the recipients to cease alleged anti-party conduct. The letters accused them of actions that had brought the party into public disrepute, hatred, and contempt, in clear violation of the PDP constitution.

Other violations listed included colluding with the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its government, refusing to comply with lawful party directives, and engaging in behaviour that promotes disunity in various chapters.

Signatories of the letters include factional National Chairman Damagum, Chief Ali Odefa—whose claim to the position of National Vice Chairman (Southeast) was invalidated by a Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday—and Chief Emmanuel Ogidi, Zonal Caretaker Chairman (South-South), whose committee was dismissed by the same court. The court upheld the zonal congress that elected FCT Minister and Wike loyalist Nyesom Wike’s ally, Chief Dan Orbih, as South-South leader of the PDP.

Abdulrahman Mohammed, named as chairman of the Wike/Anyanwu faction, also reportedly signed the letter.

However, Anyanwu and Bature dismissed the letters as a belated attempt to justify irrational and unworkable suspensions.

“It is nonsense. Can anyone there dare give me a warning letter?” Anyanwu asked.

Also noting the party’s constitution, Bature said that none of the purported signatories to the letter possessed any authority to issue warning letters or suspend any member of the NWC. He stated:
“Not at all. They just want to try to justify the nonsense they did. They don’t have any power to write such or to suspend anybody.”

Addressing reporters in Ado-Ekiti, the capital of Ekiti State, Feyose said the party had lost its soul and direction, describing its leaders as “undertakers” presiding at its funeral.

He regretted that the party, which once governed Nigeria for 16 years, had become a shadow of itself due to internal crises, leadership failures, ideological drift and selfish interests.

He asserted that the party’s current trajectory offered “no hope” of revival given the damage inflicted by its leadership.

“There is no hope of PDP coming back for now. Even the captains of the ship are jumping from one bed to another. Who will hold the party together? The current NWC are undertakers who have come to bury the PDP. The governors are leaving, leaders are defecting. Where are the pillars holding the party?” he said.

Fayose likened the party’s condition to that of a patient on life support, implying only radical surgery could revive it.

He said, “The PDP is in comatose, under intensive life support. Until someone responds to treatment, you can’t say there’s hope. But as it is now, there’s no sign of life.”

According to him, the suspension of Damagum and the appointment of Alhaji Mohammed Abdurahman as acting national chairman marked another phase in the PDP’s crisis. He warned that unless the new leadership acted swiftly to reconcile warring factions, the party risked “sliding into permanent irrelevance.”

He accused Damagum of manipulating his way into office and plunging the party into chaos, describing his suspension as “long overdue and good riddance to bad rubbish.”

Fayose added, “Damagum caused so much confusion everywhere. He was incompetent and manipulated the process to become chairman. His suspension is in order, and I can assure you that he will go the way of Iyorchia Ayu.”

He urged Abdurahman to bring together aggrieved members, hold state congresses as ordered by the courts, and organise a national convention in compliance with the party’s constitution.

“The party needs a leader who can reunite everybody at this particular time. You never can tell. You can find a doctor in Abdurahman, who is willing to turn the tables around for the party. But as it stands, the PDP is in terminal comatose without hope of survival.”

Fayose criticised the ongoing blame game, arguing that it was time for genuine efforts to rebuild the party rather than accusations.

He said, “The problem has gone beyond who caused it. Even our presidential and vice-presidential candidates in 2023 have left the party. Governors have left. What is left is the carcass of the body of a dead man.”