Dino Melaye, former senator representing Kogi West, has alleged that the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was systematically sold to President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) prior to its complete operational collapse.
Melaye, who served as a senior spokesperson in the 2023 PDP presidential campaign, stated that the party’s demise was not merely an organic consequence of internal friction, but the result of deliberate commercial and political compromise by key custodians of its national executive.
Speaking during a recent interview on the Kaa Truth Podcast, Melaye reiterated his September 2023 assertion that the PDP was ‘dead, buried and cannot rise again.’ He directly named Umar Damagum, interim national chairman, Samuel Anyanwu, national secretary, and Bature Umar, national organising secretary, as the figures responsible for surrendering the party’s political machinery to the ruling party.
According to Melaye, the trio effectively handed over the opposition framework to Tinubu and the APC long before Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), intervened to oversee what he described as the party’s formal funeral.
Melaye maintained that subsequent events, including adverse judicial rulings by the Supreme Court, have fully validated his earlier warnings, which were initially met with hostility and public criticism from within party ranks.
While the allegations reflect Melaye’s personal assessment, the claims highlight the deep structural divisions and leadership crises currently crippling Nigeria’s main opposition party. The situation raises critical questions regarding the viability of a competitive two-party system and the broader stability of the nation’s political landscape.