CITIZENS COMPASS— The Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) appears to be experiencing an internal crisis following an accusation and counter-accusations between two top members of the party, Aisha Yesufu and Senator Henry Seriake Dickson.
Yesufu in her human rights nature had accused Dickson of putting personal relevance ahead of party unity.
This followed the latter’s comments on the party’s disputed primaries during his appearance on Arise News TV yesterday.
Dickson spoke on the NDC’s recently concluded primaries and acknowledged there were reports of irregularities.
Yesufu accused the senator on Thursday, in a statement saying she was disappointed by Dickson’s remarks and approach to leadership. She argued that the former Bayelsa governor failed to calm aggrieved members and instead came across as “insecure and in competition with your Presidential Candidate.”
“Your first one on one interview after primaries and instead of selling your candidates and giving confidence to people on how set the road to winning the 2027 election was, you made it about yourself,” Yesufu wrote in an open letter to Dickson.
Yesufu, who was an aspirant under the NDC, said she respected party processes even after Dickson insisted there would be no Senate primaries. “I let things go and asked my teeming supporters to focus on the bigger picture,” she said. “I toured the FCT pacifying my supporters and party people who rightfully felt disrespected as they were all waiting at their respective headquarters for primaries that never happened.”
She added: “I played field politics, I never waited for anyone to give me a ticket.”
Yesufu faulted Dickson for what she called a failure to reassure aspirants. “As a leader of a political party, your number one job in that interview was to pacify aspirants many of whom are rightfully aggrieved and secondly to call on supporters to bear with the party and support it but you ended up antagonising the very people you would need to win election. Every vote counts. A leader must stoop to conquer.”
She warned that the NDC risks treating its registration as an achievement instead of a tool to win power. “With all due respect sir, it looks as if you consider the NDC a Special Purpose Vehicle whose aim has been achieved just by being registered instead of a Political Party whose aim is to win the 2027 General election decisively. The registration of NDC should be a means to an end and not an end in itself.”
On the issue of primaries, Yesufu said Dickson has a habit of shifting blame. “It is also interesting how as a leader I see you shifting the blame with any process that doesn’t go well or is called out. The party is young. It was overwhelming. Mistakes will be made. Accepting the mistakes and being accountable is how the party will get better.”
She stressed that no one is after Dickson’s position. “No one can take away your leadership of NDC, no one is interested in that. The focus is on Nigeria winning the 2027 election. It looked as if you were fighting a war no one was waging with you.”
Yesufu closed with a quote from Jim Rohn: “If what you did yesterday is still looking big to you today, then you are not doing enough.”
She concluded: “There is a whole battle ahead of us. Rescuing Nigeria from the current state it is in, should be the main focus not people’s fragile ego.”
Dickson, who leads the NDC, has not publicly responded to Yesufu’s statement.
The party was registered earlier this year and is positioning itself as a third-force platform ahead of 2027.
