ABUJA — Prominent activist and politician, Aisha Yesufu, has accused the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) of undermining the process for selecting its Federal Capital Territory (FCT) senatorial candidate, alleging that the exercise was manipulated to produce a predetermined outcome.
Yesufu made the allegations in a statement released late Friday, just hours after the party announced that it would not conduct primaries for the FCT Senate seat, effectively ending her bid for the party’s ticket ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The activist had declared her intention to contest the seat on May 6 after joining the NDC from the African Democratic Congress (ADC), citing the leadership experience she gained in her former party as motivation for entering the race.
Her declaration came amid reports that the party had already settled on another aspirant, Amanda Pam, a long-standing member of the NDC, as its preferred candidate.
Addressing supporters earlier on Friday, Yesufu urged calm and encouraged them to remain focused on the broader objective of political change in Nigeria. However, in a subsequent statement, she expressed disappointment with what she described as a flawed and unjust candidate selection process.
“I understood what I was getting into. I knew that the quality of our politics has not yet risen to the occasion, that values-based candidates do not easily emerge by merit in a system built to resist them,” she stated.
“But I made a decision going in: I would not compromise my values. I would stand for what is right. I did not leave advocacy to go into politics. I took advocacy into politics.”
According to Yesufu, the growing support for her campaign and the strength of her “SAY-Nation” movement significantly altered the dynamics of the race, forcing party leaders to abandon an open contest.
“Our team became so formidable that the process had to be taken out of the open and resolved through a clandestine affirmation behind closed doors,” she alleged.
She further claimed that what was presented as a primary election was, in reality, a predetermined process disguised as a democratic exercise.
“What was billed as a primary was, in truth, a predetermined outcome dressed in procedural formalities,” she said.
The activist also alleged multiple irregularities in the lead-up to the selection process, including repeated postponements, last-minute venue changes, and deviations from established party guidelines.
According to her, a delegate-based voting system was introduced to replace direct primaries that were initially expected to take place at local government headquarters across the FCT.
“When the moment came, the contest was not decided by delegates in the open; it was affirmed in a closed room, away from the people whose voices it was supposed to reflect,” she claimed.
While acknowledging that the party may describe the process as transparent, Yesufu maintained that the events surrounding the exercise failed to meet the standards of fairness and justice required under democratic principles.
“The party may go on to release statements about the free and fair nature of the primary, but the facts that transpired, when weighed against conscience and the guidelines of the Electoral Act, do not reflect justice and fairness,” she stated.
Despite her dissatisfaction with the outcome, Yesufu said she had chosen not to pursue a prolonged grievance process, preferring instead to draw lessons from the experience.
“I ran to win. But when the process was subverted, I made a choice: I would not exhaust myself in a grievance process designed to wear people down. I chose instead to extract every lesson this experience had to offer,” she said.
She added that the experience had provided her with a deeper understanding of Nigeria’s political system than any amount of observation or analysis could have offered.
“I leave this process with something far more valuable than a ticket; I leave with clarity,” she said.
Yesufu clarified that her comments were limited to her experience in the FCT Senate race and should not be interpreted as a reflection of the conduct of primaries in other states.
Despite her criticism of the process, she reaffirmed her belief in the NDC’s broader political mission ahead of the 2027 elections.
“Despite its shortcomings, the NDC remains the only party that has given the best presidential candidate in the 2027 electoral cycle a platform to run,” she stated.
As of the time of filing this report, the NDC had not issued an official response to the allegations.
Comments