Aisha Yesufu to Seriake Dickson: ‘You appear insecure, in competition with Peter Obi’
By Ishaya Ibrahim
A war of words between activist-turned-politician Aisha Yesufu and Nigeria Democratic Congress national leader Seriake Dickson escalated Friday, with Yesufu accusing Dickson of competing with the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
The dispute began after Yesufu alleged the NDC did not conduct a fair senatorial primary for the district where she was a contestant.
Dickson, speaking Wednesday night on Arise TV, suggested Yesufu “might not have played by the rules” during the primaries.
In a post on X Friday, Yesufu told Dickson that as national leader he should be pacifying aggrieved aspirants, not antagonizing them.
“Dear Sen. Henry Seriake Dickson, while I take 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 Senate, I let things go and asked my teeming supporters to focus on the bigger picture,” she wrote.
“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 antagonizing the very people you would need to win the election,” she said.
Yesufu also responded to Dickson’s comments that he could have been the NDC presidential candidate and that Obi was not doing the party a favor by flying its flag.
“It was so painfully appalling to watch that part of your interview on Arise TV,” Yesufu said. “It looked as if you were insecure and in competition with your presidential candidate. Your first one-on-one interview after primaries, and instead of selling your candidates and giving confidence to people on how to set the road to winning the 2027 election, you made it about yourself.”
She accused Dickson of presenting the NDC as a “special purpose vehicle” focused on registration rather than electoral victory in 2027.
Yesufu said Dickson appeared to be “fighting a war no one was waging with you” over leadership of the party.
“No one can take away your leadership of NDC, no one is interested in that! The focus is on Nigeria; it is winning the 2027 election!” she wrote.
“Take all responsibility! The party is young. It was overwhelmed. Mistakes will be made. Accepting the mistakes and being accountable is how the party will get better.”
