Activist and politician Aisha Yesufu has accused the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) of selecting its Abuja senatorial candidate behind closed doors, saying the party primaries were “a predetermined outcome dressed in procedural formalities.”
In a statement on Friday, Yesufu said she did not quit or drop out of the race but stayed to the end. She added that she does not intend to litigate the process because “the people of Abuja deserve the truth.”
Yesufu said the party repeatedly postponed the primaries, changed venues at the last minute, and abandoned direct primaries at local government headquarters for a delegate-based process at a central location.
“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 said.
The activist said her campaign built grassroots credibility through the SAY-Nation volunteer network, but the process was moved out of the open because it became “so formidable that the process had to be taken out of the open and resolved through a clandestine affirmation behind closed doors.”
Yesufu said she chose not to pursue a grievance process because it was “designed to wear people down.” Instead, she said she would “extract every lesson this experience had to offer.”
Despite the allegations, she said the NDC remains the only party that has given the better presidential candidate for 2027 a platform to run, and she thanked members working to make that possible.
“This is not the end,” Yesufu said. “What we built, the network, the credibility, the grassroots trust, cannot be taken away in a backroom.”
She stressed that her account reflects only the Abuja FCT senatorial race and does not speak to contests in other states.
SEE Full Details ➜