Activist and Nigeria Democratic Congress member, Aisha Yesufu, has openly criticised the party’s national leader, Senator Seriake Dickson, accusing him of appearing insecure and behaving as though he was competing with the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
Yesufu made the remarks in a post on X on Thursday while reacting to Dickson’s appearance on ARISE NEWS, where he addressed concerns surrounding the party’s recent primaries and responded to criticism from some Obi supporters.
Expressing disappointment with the interview, the activist said Dickson missed an opportunity to strengthen confidence in the party and rally support ahead of the 2027 general election. Instead, she argued, the discussion became centred on his personal position rather than the party’s broader goals.
“This part of the interview was so painfully appalling to watch. It looked as if you were insecure and in competition with your presidential candidate,” she wrote.
“Your first one-on-one interview after the 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.”
The activist also pushed back against Dickson’s suggestion that some party members may have disregarded internal procedures because of their popularity. She described the allegation as unfair and maintained that she had complied with the party’s rules throughout the primary process.
“While I took 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 the Senate, I let things go and asked my teeming supporters to focus on the bigger picture,” she said.
According to Yesufu, she spent time engaging supporters across the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to calm tensions among party faithful who felt sidelined after waiting for primaries that ultimately did not hold.
She further questioned Dickson’s vision for the NDC, suggesting that he appeared to regard the party as a project whose objective ended with registration rather than as a platform determined to secure electoral victory in 2027.
“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,” she wrote.
Yesufu insisted that the party leader’s priority should have been reconciling dissatisfied aspirants and motivating supporters to remain committed to the NDC despite internal disagreements.
“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 an election. Every vote counts! A leader must stoop to conquer!”
She also stressed that Dickson’s leadership was not being challenged, arguing that the party’s focus should remain on winning the next election and addressing the country’s pressing problems.
“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!” she said.
Dickson had earlier defended the NDC leadership against criticism from sections of Obi’s support base, arguing that attacks on the party and its officials would ultimately undermine the presidential candidate’s political ambitions.
The former Bayelsa State governor also dismissed claims of a crisis within the party, insisting that despite disagreements arising from the primaries, the NDC remained united and focused on its political objectives.
