Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), on Friday held a closed door meeting with the party’s National Leader, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson and members of the National Working Committee (NWC) in a bid to resolve issues arising from the party’s recent primary elections.

The meeting, which lasted for about three hours, came amid rising concerns over internal wrangling and fallout from the NDC primaries ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Dickson, in a statement to his verified Facebook page shortly after the meeting, revealed the details of the meeting.

The former Bayelsa State governor said the meeting provided an opportunity for party leaders to review recent developments in the NDC and respond to the concerns expressed by members.

“I just received my brother, colleague and partner in the New Nigerian Project, His Excellency Mr Peter Obi, CON, our presidential candidate, who, with some distinguished leaders of our party, held a closed door meeting that lasted about three hours,” Dickson said.

“In that meeting we reviewed the activities of our party and discussed a few recent issues that have been a cause of concern to all sides and we resolved all the issues amicably.

Dickson said the two leaders remained steadfast in their resolve to ensure victory for the NDC and dislodge the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027.

There were disagreements internally in the party, but he said there was a framework agreed to deal with such issues in the future.

“On the bigger picture, that is, winning the elections for all candidates of our party and rescuing Nigeria from the misgovernance of the APC-led government, we have always been on the same page,” he said.

“But there has been some issues and we have agreed how to handle these going forward.”

NDC leader called on party members to set aside internal wrangles and concentrate on strengthening the party ahead of future elections.

“I would like to take this opportunity again to appeal to all members of our party to cease the bickering and name calling and to concentrate on the larger issues,” he said.

“Continuous consultations between party leaders and stakeholders will help to strengthen unity and cohesion within the NDC,” Dickson said.

“His Excellency Peter Obi and I and other leaders and stakeholders of our party will continue to consult and engage one another on how best to resolve concerns, strengthen the unity and cohesion of our party and ensure that we remain focused on our common mission of rescuing Nigeria and building a better future for all,” he added.

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The National Leader of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Seriake Dickson, has called on the party chieftains to call their supporters to order.

Dickson reportedly made the call at a meeting of NDC stakeholders in Abuja on Thursday.

He was talking about the recent criticism of the party and said that they would not allow anyone to spoil somebody’s image in the party.

“I don’t understand why some people are trying to tarnish the image of NDC and why their leaders can’t call their supporters to order for God’s sake.

“When they came in, we accepted that we’re going to be partners and build this platform together. They are our flag bearers, all of us will support them through the general elections and bring Nigerians the government they deserve.

“We are not going to allow anybody to destroy anybody’s image when you have just come into the party and we have done everything for you,” Dickson said.

Dickson meanwhile said the party’s presidential candidate Peter Obi was free to choose his running mate Rabiu Kwankwaso without interference.

Dickson revealed this during an NDC stakeholders meeting on Thursday, GhanaWeb reports.

The NDC, he added, gave Obi the presidential candidate without asking for a dime from him.

Dickson wondered what the Obidients, Obi’s supporters want from him and the party.

We did not deny Obi the presidential ticket and we even allowed him to pick his vice presidential candidate without interference from the party. What else do people want ?

“I will have no problem giving the presidential nomination to them. And like I said last night, nobody asked them for money. Not me, not national chairman.

“At this time, we should be working together to ensure victory at the polls come 2027 and I think we can do it,” he said.

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National Leader of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Seriake Dickson, has said the movement of Peter Obi and Rabi’u Kwankwaso into the party did not happen overnight.

Dickson, who fielded questions in an interview on Arise Television’s ‘Prime Time’ on Wednesday, said he had worked with the duo as former governors.

He said many Nigerians believed in the NDC and thanked them for their trust, confidence and continued support for the young party.

Recall that Peter Obi and Kwankwaso dumped the African Democratic Congress, for the NDC early last month, citing internal divisions and court cases in ADC.

It was reported that the party’s ticket for President and Vice President ahead of the 2027 general elections has been picked by both former governors.

“We also brought two of the most influential political figures in the country, Peter Obi and Kwankwaso onto our platform.

These are people I have worked with for a long time, so this convergence within the NDC did not happen overnight.

“We have been able to attract strong membership and win the confidence of my colleagues including former governors and other distinguished Nigerian political leaders.

“Many Nigerians believe in us and I want to thank them for their trust, confidence and continued support,” he said.

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The 2023 governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano State, Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, is set to dump the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), for the African Democratic Congress (ADC), following negotiations between the two camps.

The reports said talks are at an advanced stage and a final meeting is expected to be held to decide the outcome of the talks.

Musa Ungogo, the ADC Chairman in Kano State, confirmed that talks were ongoing, adding that the move was initiated by Gawuna and not the party.

“The story going round that the ADC approached Gawuna is not true. It was Gawuna who came to us. He sent a delegation to meet us and we have been in talks since then,” Ungogo added.

Ungogo said the representatives of Gawuna included former Kumbotso Local Government Chairman, Sagir Fanshekara and Hon.

The delegation met the party leadership and submitted several demands, he revealed.

One of them is the call for the adoption of Gawuna as the ADC governorship candidate for the 2027 election.

The delegation also called for political accommodation for some of Gawuna’s loyalists interested in State House of Assembly and National Assembly tickets.

Ungogo said Gawuna’s camp proposed a consensus arrangement, with other governorship aspirants stepping down for him.

“They came with a number of requests. One of their major demands is that Dr Gawuna should be the party’s governorship candidate. They also requested opportunities for some of their supporters who are interested in the state assembly and National Assembly tickets,” he said.

“They told us that even if the party settled for primaries, aspirants should step down for him because he is said to have political strength in several local government areas and has the capacity to lead the party to victory.

“They requested for a consensus arrangement and also requested that the other aspirants support him,” he said.

The party will take a decision after it receives a formal written submission on all the demands, the ADC chairman added.

“We asked them to give us a written document with all their requests in it. They were also required to state the positions they are seeking and the local government areas where they have interests.

“We have another meeting scheduled for today. “We will make our position known and will study the document carefully when we get it,” he said.

Ungogo said no agreement had been reached despite the ongoing talks.

Consultations are continuing. Nothing has been decided yet. “We want a solution that is acceptable to all the stakeholders and beneficial to the party,” he said.

A close aide of Gawuna also confirmed that consultations were on-going but did not give further details.

I am not his spokesman, nor am I authorised to speak on the matter. “What I can say is that the consultations are ongoing,” the source said.

This is the latest development after Gawuna left the APC and later joined the NDC with Rabiu Kwankwaso and members of the Kwankwasiyya Movement months ago.

On his defection to the NDC, Gawuna got the Kano Central senatorial ticket, while the party settled for Aminu Gwarzo as its consensus governorship candidate.

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Rabiu Kwankwaso, the leader of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, is accused of threatening to leave the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), however the movement has addressed this.

Habibu Mohammed, the party’s spokesperson, stated in a statement that Kwankwaso has never threatened to quit the party over the candidates’ replacements.

The group called the conjecture “rumors.”

“Kwankwaso never made an NDC exit threat. The Kwankwasiyya Movement and its leader are not complaining, according to the statement.

According to reports, the Kwankwasiyya Movement would leave the party if loyalists who had previously been selected by the bloc were removed.

Recall that the rumors surfaced after the group substituted a number of candidates, allegedly violating an earlier power-sharing agreement. Mohammed denied the accusations.

The group’s spokesperson said that the winners were confirmed the same day and that the party primaries were held on May 29 in accordance with the Electoral Act and INEC regulations.

He claimed that the NDC members and stakeholders had previously decided on a consensus model when needed, adopted candidates in accordance with it, and presented the list without internal disputes.

Kwankwaso had not expressed any complaints to the party regarding the initiative, he continued.

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Nigerian Democratic Congress, NDC, Rabiu Kwankwaso has kicked against a reported move by leadership of the party to drop some party candidates loyal to Kwankwaso.

It was learnt that NDC has replaced some of the candidates earlier submitted by the Kwankwasiyya faction in Kano State, over an alleged breach of a power-sharing agreement.

A document purportedly signed by Kano State Chairman of the party, Hon. Hussaini Isah Mairiga, said the changes were made to reflect the earlier agreement on the distribution of party positions and elective tickets between the existing NDC structure and the Kwankwasiyya bloc.

The document, copied to the NDC National Leader, Senator Seriake Dickson, leader of Kwankwasiyya, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and the party’s North-West Zonal Chairman, changed the list of both federal and state house assembly candidates.

When contacted on Monday, the Kwankwassiyya Movement’s national spokesman, Habib Mai-Lemo, dismissed the document arguing that due process was followed before aspirants from the camp of Mr. Kwankwaso became candidates.

Mai-Lemo said the Kwankwassiyya Movement will for now, treat the report as a rumour, considering that the state chairman of the party and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC were part of the processes that produced the affected candidates.

“I also saw on social media that some candidates are being dropped a week after the primaries were conducted,” he said.

“It wasn’t Kwankwaso who sold nomination forms, it was the party and therefore processes were followed either through consensus or primary election.

“All candidates were involved in the process from start to finish. ‘While the processes were going on we never had any complaints from anyone. We didn’t block nobody to buy the forms cause the first place we didn’t sell the forms.

“All the candidates went through due processes. “We are waiting to see if it is true or not, we don’t know where this issue is coming from as we have not seen a copy of the letter that is supposed to be signed by the State Chairman of the NDC”.

“We know the state played a part in the process. “So for now, we are treating it as a rumour. He was around on the day of consensus, even INEC was around.

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Vice Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Rabi’u Kwankwaso, has been accused of hijacking party structure in the North West

This was contained in a statement jointly signed by the party’s Northwest Vice Chairman Mohammed Rabiu Serina and Kano State Chairman Hussaini Isa Mariga, respectively.

They accused the former Kano state governor of barring non-Kwankwasiyya members from contesting for elective offices on its platform.

The duo stated that they are pioneer members of the party, appointed by the party’s National Leader, former Governor of Bayelsa State, Henry Seriake Dickson, before the party was registered and subsequently confirmed as substantive officers at congresses and the national convention.

Serina and Mariga also said they helped build the party structures across Kano State and the North West before Kwankwaso and his supporters joined the party.

“The problems started when Kwankwaso wanted to take over the party structure in Kano State in the state congresses.

“The disagreement led to the intervention of the party’s national leader, Seriake Dickson who convened a meeting and brokered an agreement which gave Kwankwaso and his supporters 60 per cent control of the party structure in Kano while the party retained 40 per cent,” the party officials said.

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A Senatorial aspirant for Edo South on the platform of the NDC, Ehiozuwa Agbonayinwa has identified the issue facing the Nigerian Democratic Congress, NDC.

Agbonayinwa has been outspoken about his purported exclusion from getting the party’s ticket for the senatorial district, which he said he won after the NDC primary elections held on May 29.

The ex-House of Representatives member is one of the disgruntled members of the party that are not happy with the way the party’s leadership has handled the candidate selection process.

Reports said the NDC has not yet published the results of the primary elections for the Senate, House of Representatives, state governors and state legislatures.

Agbonayinwa said on Arise News on Friday that the biggest problem in the NDC is that the party’s National Leader, Senator Seriake Dickson, is forcing his will on everyone.

“I think what is wrong is that one man cannot determine for the whole NDC. You have your national leader, you have your national chairman, a senator of reput, a wonderful guy, a great guy. I admire him.

“You have the secretary, Barrister Ikenna, good people. You have the national public secretary, they are great men but at the same time we have the National Organising Secretary, wonderful people working day and night, but you guess what? One man cannot decide for the future of members of NDC.

“So to me, I cannot be going to the leader’s house every day waiting from morning till night. This isn’t democracy, for God’s sake. This is not democratic.

“Democracy is of the people, by the people. You have to let the people decide their faith, I won the senatorial seat. No two ways about that.

“Why didn’t they announce the result for God’s sake? Primary was May 29th, this is June 5th. What are they hiding?”

“He said they are featuring one lady, that the lady is going to give affirmation, that they need a woman to be among the senator.

You don’t do that. We went to the primaries and those who won should be given a chance. “I won, I deserve a shot.”

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Ehiozuwa Agbonayinwa, a senatorial aspirant of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in Edo South, has said he regrets leaving the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the NDC.

A former member of the House of Representatives, Agbonayinwa said his movement to the NDC had become from frying pan to hellfire.

He spoke during an interview on Arise News’ News Day, it was reported Friday.

Agbonayinwa said he won the NDC senatorial primary for Edo South but was being denied the chance to appear on the ballot.

He said the party conducted a direct primary after aspirants could not agree on a consensus candidate.

“I’ve moved from frying pan to hellfire,” said Agbonayinwa. We had the direct primary after we couldn’t find consensus. And we couldn’t do that, they kept us in the room at the time with all other contestants for us to step down for each other.

“We went through intense processes. I know they are new, but this is something I have never had with APC or PDP. Never. where people were asked to go for the primary… The primary was conducted today, June 5, and elections have not been announced.” May 29 was the day the primary was conducted.

The former governorship aspirant alleged that the national leader of the NDC, Senator Seriake Dickson, encouraged him to buy the senatorial expression of interest and nomination forms.

He however said Dickson had later denied ever asking him to do so.

“The national leader of NDC, Senator Seriake Dickson, who is a very good friend and brother to me for many years,” Agbonayinwa added. We’re colleagues. He was governor, now senator, a brother I hold in deep respect.

When we were to leave NDC, I called him. He sent it to me and said I should go to the house.

“I went to his house, and he said, ‘Why can’t you go to the Senate under NDC?’ I say I will think about it, and for me, I was going for the House of Reps but when he offered that, I started thinking, I say I will consult with my leaders, which I did, and I told him, thank you.

“But to my greatest surprise, the same man who asked me to go and buy the form, we had a meeting this morning and he said he never said so.”

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A lawyer in Enugu State, Aroh Dominic, has warned the national leadership of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, not to declare candidates for elective positions in the state, citing irregularities in the party’s primary elections.

It said the warning comes amid increasing controversy over the results of the NDC primaries held last week. The spotlight is now on the party’s national secretariat which is expected to come out with the final list of candidates.

Aroh, who wrote on behalf of an NDC member, Idoko Chidozie, alleged in a letter to the National Chairman of the party that no primary election was held in Nsukka and Igbo-Eze South Local Government Areas for the House of Assembly, House of Representatives, Senate and governorship positions.

Party members had gathered at designated venues in both local government areas expecting to participate in the primaries but no party officials turned up to conduct the exercise, the lawyer said.

He said there are aspirants and supporters of the party, but there are no party officials to conduct a valid primary election.

Others later organised separate exercises which officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the police and other relevant agencies reportedly said would not be recognised, Aroh also alleged.

The lawyer said if the party tries to announce candidates for the affected posts, it would be taken to court.

He also accused the party of parading candidates when it was alleged that it did not conduct primaries in the two local government areas.

It demanded an explanation from the party within 24 hours and warned of legal action in the event of the demands not being met.

Among the reliefs being sought are the refund of monies allegedly paid by aspirants, sanctions against those responsible for the alleged irregularities and an order preventing any beneficiary of the process from being recognised as a candidate.

The NDC national leadership has however not authenticated any list of successful candidates from Enugu State.

A faction of the party in the state, led by Dr. Johnpaul Anih, had earlier released a list of winners after the primaries, while another faction is led by Ibuchukwu Obetta. Neither list has received official endorsement from the national leadership.

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