The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) National Leader, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, has come under fire from human rights activist and politician Aisha Yesufu for allegedly prioritizing personal significance over bolstering the party in front of the 2027 general elections.
According to Naija News, Yesufu’s criticism came after Dickson’s appearance on Arise Television on Wednesday, during which he recognized claims of irregularities in the party’s just finished primaries and addressed concerns about them.
The activist expressed dissatisfaction with the remarks and leadership style of the former governor of Bayelsa State in a statement released on Thursday.
Yesufu stated that despite differences about how the primaries were run, she had been dedicated to the party’s procedures.
She claimed that she sought to appease supporters who were upset about the outcome and accepted the decisions made by the party leadership.
“Dear Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, while I take my time to properly address your allusion that I did not follow the rules, which I consider very disingenuous given how I followed the process and even when you had insisted there would be no senate primaries, I let things go and asked my teeming supporters to focus on the bigger picture,” she said.
“I traveled around the Federal Capital Territory to appease my supporters and party members who, understandably, felt humiliated because they were all waiting at their local offices for primaries that never took place.
“As the national leader, I would like you to watch this video again. I played field politics and never waited for anyone to give me a ticket.”
The activist claimed that Dickson seemed more focused on himself than the party’s electoral chances during a portion of his television interview.
“Watching this portion of the interview was really horrible. “You appeared to be insecure and competitive with your presidential candidate,” she remarked.
“You made it about yourself in your first one-on-one interview following the primaries, rather than promoting your candidates and inspiring others on how to pave the way for winning the 2027 election.”
Yesufu said that the NDC should be focused on winning elections rather than celebrating its existence as a political platform.
“With all due respect, sir, it appears that you view the NDC as a Special Purpose Vehicle whose goal has been accomplished simply by being registered rather than a Political Party whose goal is to decisively win the 2027 General election,” she stated.
“NDC registration ought to be a tool, not a goal in and of itself.”
Dickson was also criticized by the activist for reportedly neglecting to comfort disgruntled candidates and supporters following the primaries.
She stated that bringing members together and motivating them to keep supporting the party should have been one of the party leader’s main duties.
“As a political party leader, your primary responsibility in that interview was to appease candidates, many of whom are legitimately upset, and to urge supporters to stick with the party and back it, but you ended up upsetting the very people you would need to win the election,” she stated.
She said that nobody in the party was questioning Dickson’s legitimacy as the country’s leader.
“No one can take away your leadership of NDC, and no one is interested in that,” the activist continued. The goal is for Nigeria to win the election in 2027.
It appeared as though you were engaged in combat with no one. Just take the lead; you have nothing to prove to anyone!
Yesufu also charged Dickson with shifting blame anytime party procedures were criticized.
She said, “It’s also interesting how, as a leader, I see you shifting the blame to any process that goes wrong or is called out.”
“Assume full responsibility! It’s a young party. It was overpowered. Errors will occur. The party will improve by owning up to its mistakes and taking responsibility for them.
Before the next general election, she urged party leaders to be committed to the opposition’s larger goal and national issues.
“There is a whole battle ahead of us,” stated Aisha Yesufu. The primary focus should be on saving Nigeria from its current predicament, not on people’s delicate egos!
