Aisha Yesufu Calls Out Dickson Over His Comments on NDC Primaries

Nigerian activist and politician Aisha Yesufu has called out Seriake Dickson, the National Leader of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC). She criticized him for saying she did not follow the rules during the party's senatorial primaries in Abuja.

Ms Yesufu, who is part of the NDC, shared her thoughts in a post on her verified X account on Thursday. She was a candidate for the FCT Senatorial primaries of the NDC, which she claims were manipulated against her.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Dickson, during an Arise TV program on Wednesday night, suggested that Ms Yesufu "might not have played by the rules" in the recent primaries.

In her post, Ms Yesufu told Mr Dickson that, as the NDC national leader, he should be calming down upset party aspirants instead of attacking them.

"Dear Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, while I take my time to properly address your allusion to me not playing by the rules, which I consider very disingenuous, seeing how I followed the process and even when you had insisted there would be no primaries for Senate, I let things go and asked my teeming supporters to focus on the bigger picture," she wrote.

The activist stated that she visited the FCT to reassure her supporters, who felt "rightfully disrespected" because "they were all waiting at their respective headquarters for primaries that never happened."

"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 the election," she told Mr Dickson.

Dickson's Competition with Peter Obi?

Ms Yesufu also reacted to comments from Mr Dickson, who said he could have been the NDC’s presidential candidate. He suggested that Peter Obi is not doing the party a favour by representing it.

She said it was "so painfully appalling to watch" that part of Mr Dickson’s interview on Arise TV, adding that he seemed to be competing with Mr Obi, the party’s presidential candidate.

"It looked as if you were 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 to set the road to winning the 2027 election, you made it about yourself," she told Mr Dickson.

Focus on Winning Elections

Ms Yesufu claimed that Mr Dickson, in the Arise TV interview, showed that the NDC is a "special purpose vehicle" aimed at successful registration as a party instead of focusing on winning elections in 2027.

The activist pointed out that Mr Dickson seemed to be struggling to keep his leadership position in the NDC even without rivals.

"It looked as if you were fighting a war no one was waging with you. You don’t have anything to prove to anyone, lead!

"No one can take away your leadership of NDC, no one is interested in that! The focus is on Nigeria; it is winning the 2027 election!" she said.

"Take all responsibility! The party is young. It was overwhelmed. Mistakes will be made. Accepting the mistakes and being accountable is how the party will get better."