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From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
A former aide to former president Goodluck Jonathan on Youth and Student Matters, Jude Imagwe, has asked the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Umar Damagum, to as a matter of urgency, resign from office.
Imagwe, in an open letter to Damagum titled, ‘Since you cannot lift the party, don’t pull it down, resign now and let PDP breathe again,’ told Damagum that under his leadership, the party was gasping for breath.
A former president of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) also said the content of the letter was from a committed party loyalist, a believer in the PDP creed and one who has seen both the glory and the decline of the “great party.”
He said: “This letter is written not in anger, but in pain, the pain of watching a once-great political institution slowly suffocate under the weight of avoidable failures and timid leadership. It is a letter from a committed party loyalist, a believer in the PDP creed and one who has seen both the glory and the decline of our great party.
“The Peoples Democratic Party was not built on convenience but conviction. It was not founded on survival politics but on the promise of stability, inclusion and national renewal. For years, PDP represented the hope of democracy, not just in Nigeria but across Africa. It was the political engine that birthed modern governance reforms, economic revival and global respect for our nation.
“But today, Sir, under your leadership, the party gasps for breath.”
The Agenebode, Etsako East Local Government Area-born Imagwe further said the statistics of the decline of the party were no longer deniable, they are visible in every state, every ward, every election result.
He added that under Damagum’s watch, the PDP has recorded the largest wave of defections in its history, as governors, senators, national officers and grassroots loyalists have walked away, not because they stopped believing in the PDP but because the PDP stopped believing in itself.
“Our once-cohesive national structure has fractured into state factions and competing interest blocs. The once-unifying symbol of Nigeria’s democracy now mirrors disunity, confusion and silence at the top. You have inherited a structure built by visionaries but allowed it to shrink into a committee of crisis managers.
“The most painful irony is that PDP was stronger in opposition than it is today in leadership. We have lost our voice, our coordination and our conviction. Every major chapter from Rivers to Edo, Kano to Cross River, Ogun to Plateau is engulfed in internal disarray. Instead of resolving disputes, the national secretariat now incubates them,” he stated.
Not done, Imagwe informed Damagum that his leadership of the party has often felt like governance by absence. He said: “When state chapters cried for intervention, you responded with delay. When crises called for courage, you offered caution. When the party needed renewal, you chose routine.
“We no longer resemble a party of the people, but a tired bureaucracy feeding on memories of the past. The party that once prided itself on “power to the people” now seems powerless even to discipline itself.
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“Where is the voice that should inspire confidence? Where is the action that should restore direction?
Where is the courage that should correct what has gone wrong? Your silence, sir, has become our sentence.” Listing the past chairmen of the party, such as the late Audu Ogbeh, Bamanga Tukur, and Uche Secondus, who took the path of honour and resigned, Imagwe also said each of the men, whether right or wrong in their decisions, understood that honour in leadership is not in how long you stay, but in knowing when to go.
“Sir, the truth is simple: the PDP cannot be reborn under the same leadership that has failed to deliver renewal. We cannot rebuild trust with the same silence that allowed betrayal. And we cannot inspire a nation with a chairman who has lost the confidence of his own house. It is like reactivating failure; failure is failure and that is what your leadership has shown.
“This is not a call made in hostility, but in hope. If you cannot lift the party, do not pull it down.
“Resignation is not surrender, it is responsibility. It is an honourable act that tells history that you cared more for the legacy of the PDP than the comfort of your position.
“The Peoples Democratic Party deserves a leadership that acts, speaks, listens and unites. We need a chairman who commands trust, not just title; a leader who can rebuild faith, heal divisions and awaken the spirit of service that once defined our movement.
“Sir, if your continued stay in office will deepen the fracture, then the most patriotic gift you can offer this party is your graceful resignation.
“Let the PDP breathe again. Let new energy rise. Let the people reclaim their voice.
“We may disagree in politics, but we must never differ in purpose. The purpose of leadership is not to occupy space but to inspire progress. History will be kind to those who step aside when their presence becomes a burden to the cause they love.
“You have a chance Sir, to write your name not among those who watched PDP fall, but among those who helped it rise again.
“Because the truth remains: You cannot heal a house you helped divide. You cannot lead a revival from a seat of retreat. Do the needful. Take the honourable path. Resign now and let the Peoples Democratic Party breathe again.
“Thank you for all you’ve done for the party,” Imagwe concluded.
