Amid the rave of defections from opposition parties to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) raising fears of a one-party state, acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ambassador Ilyas Umar Damagum, yesterday refuted reports that he is plotting to join the ruling party.

Deny such moves as lies from the pit of hell, he attributed the reports to desperate and determined political foes, asserting he was not pursuing a secret deal towards defecting to the APC.

He was alleged to be secretly plotting to dump the PDP once his tenure as acting chairman expires at the party’s national convention scheduled for August 28-30, 2025.

However, in a statement yesterday by his Personal Assistant, Nuru Jos, Damagum ascribed the purported plan to defect to APC as the handiwork of some desperate political forces who lost out in the PDP’s recent Northeast zonal congress.

He alleged those behind the reports were not only seeking to tarnish his reputation but also aiming to discredit his leadership of the PDP and distract it from ongoing efforts to actualise reconciliation and reposition the party.

This is as a former Senior Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Public Affairs, Aliyu Audu, has revealed that he resigned from the administration to actively campaign against Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027.

Speaking on Monday during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Audu said his decision was driven by a matter of “principle and conscience,” as he accused the ruling APC of attempting to turn Nigeria into a one-party state.

“It confirmed it on one hand, and on the other hand, it strengthened my resolve to not work for him in 2027,” Audu said, referring to Tinubu’s Democracy Day speech where the president claimed to enjoy seeing the opposition in disarray.

“I couldn’t in all honesty and my conscience be in his government knowing I’m plotting against removal in 2027 because I will, and by God, we will remove him. Collectively, Nigerians will install a leader who will be our chosen, not his chosen. Not emilokan (my turn), but awa lokan (our turn), in fact, gbogbo wa lokan (all of us).”

He also criticised the inclusion of Nyesom Wike, a PDP member and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, in the APC-led government, questioning his loyalty and the legitimacy of such a move.

“What is Wike doing in our government? If he’s going to leave the PDP, he should leave. If we’re doing a government of national unity, you deal with the party, not individuals. The party is what we vote for — not Bola Tinubu but APC; not Atiku but PDP; not Peter Obi but Labour Party.”

Audu’s resignation letter, dated June 8, criticised the APC’s political trajectory and warned against what he described as a deliberate silencing of opposition voices. In a follow-up statement, he clarified that while he does not support the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he would not lend himself “as an instrument to reduce Nigeria to a one-party state.”

“If we now begin to silence or crush opposition simply because we have the upper hand, then we are no different from the very system we once criticised under Obasanjo in 2003,” he said.

In another development, Chris Abasi Eyo, a former Commissioner for Information in the ex-Governor Victor Attah administration has resigned as Honorary Special Adviser to Akwa Ibom State Governor Umo Eno.

According to the letter dated June 16, 2025, Eyo cited loyalty to his party PDP as the reason for his resignation, stating he couldn’t defect to the APC as it contradicts his principles, particularly since he played a role in building his current party. Eyo served as Spokesperson in the Umo Eno/Akon Eyakenyi 2023 governor campaign organization.

In the letter, he wrote, “Permit me, once again, to convey my sincere appreciation to Your Excellency, for appointing me ab antiquo – as the spokesperson of the Umo Eno/Akon Eyakenyi/PDP Governorship Campaign Organisation.

“It was a rare privilege to serve in that capacity as we traversed the length and breadth of our dear State, championing the noble ideals of the ARISE Agenda. I am equally grateful for the subsequent honour of being appointed as honorary Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Governor. These privileges, I have never taken for granted, and I shall remain profoundly grateful, now and always,” the letter further read.

“Nonetheless, while the decision is clearly strategic, it is bound to leave in its wake, a trail of political jetsams and flotsams. Therefore, in compliance with Your Excellency’s directive – ‘Defect with me or resign’ – and guided by the timeless principle that ‘all politics is local,’ I have chosen to become a jetsam of the very ship I co-built.

“Accordingly, I hereby tender my resignation from my role as Honorary Special Adviser, having resolved to remain with the PDP. I wish Your Excellency continued success and wisdom in the pursuit of good governance.”

Meanwhile, a pro-PDP group, under the aegis of Bala Agents’ Mandate, has urged former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, and former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to return to their political roots in the PDP. The group said Amaechi and Obi should join forces with Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State to rebuild a strong and united opposition party.

The state coordinator of the group, Amadi Chijioke, at a press briefing in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, on Monday, advised both men to shelve plans of forming a new opposition coalition, stressing that such a move would only weaken the fight to rescue Nigeria from alleged misrule and democratic backsliding.

Supporting the call, the National Coordinator of the group, Habib Musa, lauded the PDP Governors’ Forum, led by Bauchi State Governor as the most formidable and credible structure currently holding the party together.

According to him, the Forum has remained a symbol of unity and accountability amidst rising political uncertainties, faulting the recent defections of the governors of Delta and Akwa Ibom States to the APC.

“The defection of two governors from our party has been touted as a significant blow. But let us be clear: these defections were not driven by ideology or principle but by fear and opportunism.

We assure the good people of those states that the PDP remains a formidable force, and we will soon reclaim the governments of those states through the ballot box,” he said.