The national secretary of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Ikenna Enekweizu, says Peter Obi, the party’s presidential candidate, had preferred that his ally Aisha Yesufu contest for the AMAC/Gwari house of representatives seat instead of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) senate position.
Enekweizu made the statement during an appearance on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ programme on Wednesday.
He explained that early discussions between Obi and the party leadership focused on building consensus around the AMAC/Gwari house of representatives ticket after Obi joined the party.
“When Peter Obi joined the party, part of what we wanted to do with him was to allow him help us build consensus on who will be the candidate of the party for the AMAC/Gwari seat,” he said.
“He told me personally that he wanted Aisha Yesufu to run for the house of representatives seat of AMAC/Gwari.
“But two or three days after he said this to me, I was surprised to read on social media that Aisha is running for senate. We didn’t discuss that.”
According to him, the party later engaged in internal consultations and made efforts to convince Yesufu to contest for the lower chamber seat.
“The national leader of the party invited Aisha Yesufu, met with her twice, appealing to her to run for the house of representatives,” he said.
“But Aisha said she was bigger than the reps office. She said she wanted to be a senator and nothing would stop her from going to the senate. So we allowed her to run.”
He added that Yesufu later lost the primary election and should make use of the party’s internal dispute resolution mechanisms if she has any grievances.
“Aisha Yesufu lost the primary election. If she feels aggrieved, a lot of people who also lost the primaries in other constituencies have been reaching out to us,” he said.
Enekweizu also said Yesufu was not singled out, noting that several supporters of Obi also contested for the same ticket.
“She’s not the only supporter of Peter Obi that ran for AMAC/Gwari. Twenty-three aspirants bought the expression of interest and nomination form. How do we manage them all?” he asked.
He maintained that the party reserves the constitutional right to determine its candidates for elections.
His comments follow earlier claims that Obi and the party leadership had offered Yesufu a house of representatives ticket, which she allegedly turned down.
Yesufu, a former convener of the #BringBackOurGirls movement, had initially declared interest in the 2027 FCT senate race after joining the NDC, but later withdrew after the party reportedly allocated the ticket to another aspirant.