Ikenna Enekweizu, national secretary of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), says Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the party, wanted his ally Aisha Yesufu to contest for the AMAC/Gwari house of representatives seat, not the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) senate position.
Enekweizu spoke on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’
programme on Wednesday.
He said discussions between Obi and the party leadership
centred on building consensus around the AMAC/Gwari house of representatives
ticket after the former governor of Anambra joined the party.
“When Peter Obi joined the party, part of what we wanted to
do with him was to allow him help us build consensus on who will be the
candidate of the party for the AMAC/Gwari seat,” he said.
“He told me personally that he wanted Aisha Yesufu to run
for the house of representatives seat of AMAC/Gwari.
“But two or three days after he said this to me, I was
surprised to read on social media that Aisha is running for senate. We didn’t
discuss that.”
The NDC secretary said the party subsequently embarked on
internal consultations while attempting to persuade Yesufu to run for the lower
legislative seat.
“The national leader of the party invited Aisha Yesufu, met
with her twice, appealing to her to run for the house of representatives,” he
said.
“But Aisha said she was bigger than the reps office. She
said she wanted to be a senator and nothing would stop her from going to the
senate. So we allowed her to run.”
He added that Yesufu lost the primary election and should
utilise the party’s internal mechanisms if she has grievances.
“Aisha Yesufu lost the primary election. If she feels
aggrieved, a lot of people who also lost the primaries in other constituencies
have been reaching out to us,” he said.
Enekweizu also dismissed suggestions that Yesufu was singled
out, noting that several Obi supporters contested for the same ticket.
“She’s not the only supporter of Peter Obi that ran for
AMAC/Gwari. Twenty-three aspirants bought the expression of interest and
nomination form. How do we manage them all?” he asked.
According to him, the party has the constitutional power to
determine who flies its flag for any particular office in an election.
BACKGROUND
His remarks come days after Seriake Dickson, national leader
of the NDC, said Obi and the party leadership had offered Yesufu a ticket to
contest for a seat in the house of representatives, but that she declined the
offer.
Speaking at a media conference on June 12, Dickson addressed
concerns over candidate selection and internal disagreements within the party
ahead of the 2027 elections.
Yesufu, a former convener of the #BringBackOurGirls movement
and a prominent figure in the Obidient movement, had declared interest in the
2027 FCT senatorial race after joining the NDC from the African Democratic
Congress (ADC) on May 6.
She said the decision was influenced by the leadership
experience she gained in the ADC.
However, less than a month later, she dropped out of the
race after the party reportedly ceded the FCT senate ticket to Amanda Pam, an
aspirant who joined the party earlier.
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