Ikenna Enekweizu, national secretary of the Nigeria Democratic Party (NDC), says the party repeatedly appealed to Aisha Yesufu to contest for a seat in the House of Representatives, but she insisted on running for the Senate.
Enekweizu spoke on Wednesday during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme while responding to allegations by Yesufu that the party’s FCT senatorial primary was predetermined.
Yesufu, an activist and ally of Peter Obi, had alleged that she lost the NDC senatorial ticket in a process that was “a predetermined outcome dressed in procedural formalities”.
Responding to the claim, Enekweizu said the party conducted a fair primary and denied reports suggesting that another aspirant was favoured because she donated a building to the party.
“If you believe everything you read on social media, one day you might find yourself reading about yourself that you’re lost. You cannot believe everything you read on social media,” he said.
Asked whether Yesufu was offered the House of Representatives ticket, Enekweizu said Obi had personally suggested that she contest for the AMAC/Bwari federal constituency seat.
“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 would be the candidate of the party for the AMAC/Bwari seat,” he said.
“He told me personally that he wanted Aisha Yesufu to run for the House of Reps for AMAC/Bwari. He told me personally, quote me on this.
“Two or three days after he said this to me, I was surprised to read on social media that Aisha was running for senate. We didn’t discuss that.”
EFFORT AT CONSENSUS
The national secretary said the party leadership subsequently engaged Yesufu and urged her to reconsider her decision.
“The national leader himself invited Aisha and met with her twice, appealing to her to run for the House of Reps,” he said.
“Aisha said she was bigger than the office of House of Representatives member. She wanted to be a senator.
“Nothing would stop her from running for senate. So we allowed her to run.”
Enekweizu said Yesufu eventually lost the primary election and insisted that the contest was free and fair.
He added that the party has maintained communication with the activist despite her grievances.
“Of course we have reached out to Aisha Yesufu,” he said.
“I don’t know the reason. She lost the primary election.
“If she feels aggrieved for any reason, a lot of people who lost primary elections in other constituencies have been reaching out to her.”
According to him, the AMAC/Bwari contest attracted significant interest within the party.
“For AMAC/Bwari alone, we had 23 aspirants who bought expression of interest forms,” he said.
“How do we manage all 23? Twenty-three.”
