Former Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose has delivered a stark assessment of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), declaring that the opposition party faces bleak prospects unless it undergoes dramatic renewal. Speaking in Ado Ekiti on Sunday, Fayose slammed the party’s leadership under Umar Damagum, who was suspended by a faction of the party, and congratulated Mohammed Abdulrahman on his emergence as Acting National Chairman. He described the PDP as being in a “hopeless situation” and “a shadow of itself.”

Internal Fractures at the Top

The crisis erupted on Saturday when a faction led by the party’s National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, announced the suspension of Damagum and five other senior National Working Committee members for alleged incompetence and financial misconduct. At the same time, the Damagum-led NWC suspended Anyanwu and others in retaliation. The competing actions have heightened instability within the leadership.

Fayose accused Damagum of manipulating his way into office and presiding over the party’s decline. “The Damagum-led National Working Committee are undertakers — they have come to bury the party,” he said. “Even the captains of our boat are jumping ship… So who is going to hold the party together?”