I write to you at a critical moment — one that calls not for flattery or noise, but for honesty, reflection, and leadership.
I write as a friend, a brother, and someone who genuinely desires your success and the stability of the political structure you lead.
What has just played out in the Edo South Senatorial primary election is not an ordinary political event.
It is a message — clear, loud, and impossible to ignore. And like every message in politics, it must be properly understood, otherwise it risks being dangerously misinterpreted.
In some respects, Your Excellency, you are not entirely to blame for what has happened. But in other respects, responsibility rests squarely with you.
You were misled — but you also listened.
That is the hard truth.
Many of those around you who parade themselves as loyalists, political strategists, and grassroots mobilizers have now been exposed by the very process they claimed to control. They projected strength where there was weakness, sold confidence where there was emptiness, and created an illusion of political dominance that ultimately collapsed at the moment of truth.
Resources were deployed. Structures were activated. Promises were made.
But when it mattered most, the people spoke — and they spoke against them.
That is not a minor setback. It is a political reality check.
It reveals that many who sit closest to power do not truly command the people; they merely control access — access to you, to resources, and to information. Unfortunately, that access has been used to distort your perception of political reality.
Even more troubling is the role some played in shaping your perception of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu.
You were made to see him not as an ally or brother, but as a future threat that needed to be politically weakened or contained. Your Excellency, that narrative was not built on truth. It was built on fear, insecurity, and personal ambition.
Those who promoted that idea did so because they feared his influence, his structure, and his independent political standing — not because he posed any real threat to you.
Ironically, the outcome of this primary has now exposed who truly has political influence and who merely claimed to have it.
Despite financial inducements and political pressure, the people refused to be controlled. They rejected those who claimed ownership of them. They demonstrated that loyalty cannot always be bought, and influence cannot always be manufactured.
This is a lesson many leaders learn too late.
Your Excellency, this moment must not be wasted.
This is not the time to harden positions or deepen divisions. This is not the time to listen again to the same voices that led you into this situation. This is the time for sober reflection and deliberate correction.
And that correction must begin with reconciliation.
Reach out to Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu — not merely as a political obligation, but as a necessary act of statesmanship. He is not your enemy and has never been your enemy.
He remains a strategic ally, a brother, and one of the few political figures whose strength is rooted in genuine grassroots connection.
You both have far more to gain from unity than from division.
Allowing this fracture to deepen will only empower those who thrive on confusion and conflict. Healing it will strengthen your leadership and stabilize the political environment around you.
Permit me, Your Excellency, to also address an issue that concerns me personally.
There are already voices attempting to label me a betrayer simply because I did not support the aspirant you preferred.
Let me state this clearly and without apology: I did not betray you.
True betrayal would have been abandoning the man who brought me into your political circle — Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu — for personal gain, political convenience, or financial reward.
That is what betrayal looks like.
What I chose instead was loyalty — loyalty to relationship, loyalty to origin, and loyalty to principle.
Without Pastor Ize-Iyamu, there would have been no bridge between us. That is a fact I cannot deny and will never ignore.
Many others, unfortunately, chose a different path. They abandoned long-standing relationships in pursuit of temporary favor and advantage. But history has a way of recording such choices, and time has a way of judging them.
Your Excellency, leadership is not merely about authority; it is about discernment.
It is about knowing who is truly with you and who is merely around you. It is about separating truth from noise, loyalty from opportunism, and reality from illusion.
Right now, you are surrounded by both — but only one group can secure your future.
Do not allow those who misled you into this situation to drag you further into unnecessary conflict.
Do not fight battles that do not need to be fought. Do not create divisions that can still be healed.
You still have the opportunity to correct course.
You still have the opportunity to unify your base.
You still have the opportunity to lead with clarity, strength, and wisdom.
But that opportunity will require courage — the courage to reflect, the courage to acknowledge missteps, and the courage to act differently going forward.
Unite. Reconcile. Rebuild.
That is the path of true leadership.
I remain your friend, your brother, and one who will always choose truth over silence in the interest of progress.
Comrade Ikhuenbor Felix Igbinevbo (Mr. Figo)