Activist and member of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Aisha Yesufu, has criticised the party’s national leader, Senator Seriake Dickson, saying he appeared “insecure” and was acting as though he was in competition with the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
Yesufu stated this in a post on X on Thursday while responding to comments made by Dickson during an interview on ARISE NEWS, where he defended the party’s leadership and addressed criticisms from some Obi supporters following the NDC primaries.
Reacting to Dickson’s remarks, Yesufu said she found a portion of the interview “painfully appalling” to watch, arguing that his first major media appearance after the primaries should have focused on reassuring party members and promoting the party’s candidates ahead of the 2027 election.
“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.”
Yesufu also rejected Dickson’s suggestion that some party members may have been unwilling to follow internal rules because of their popularity.
While acknowledging that she would address the allegation more fully later, she maintained that she had complied with the party’s processes during the primaries and had worked to calm supporters who felt aggrieved by developments in the Federal Capital Territory.
“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 her, she toured parts of the FCT to pacify supporters and party members who felt disrespected after waiting for primaries that did not take place.
The activist further argued that Dickson appeared to view the NDC as a “special purpose vehicle” whose objective had been achieved with its registration rather than as a political party focused on winning the 2027 general election.
“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.
She said Dickson’s primary responsibility as party leader during the interview should have been to pacify aggrieved aspirants and encourage supporters to remain committed to the party.
“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!”
Yesufu stressed that no one was challenging Dickson’s leadership of the party, insisting that the focus should be on securing victory in the 2027 elections and addressing Nigeria’s challenges.
“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 party against criticisms from some Obi supporters, describing attacks on the NDC and its leadership as counterproductive to the presidential candidate’s ambition.
The former Bayelsa governor also maintained that the party remained united despite disagreements arising from its recent primary elections and dismissed suggestions of an internal crisis.
