NDC Allows All Aspirants With Expression of Interest Forms to Participate in Primaries

The Nigeria Democratic Congress has announced that all aspirants who purchased Expression of Interest forms will be allowed to participate in its forthcoming primary elections across the country.

The decision followed extensive deliberations involving party leaders, members of the National Working Committee and the Selection Committee chaired by former governor, Sam Egwu, which submitted its screening report after several days of work.

The party’s National Leader, Seriake Dickson, disclosed the development in a post shared on X on Thursday.

According to Dickson, the party reviewed the large number of aspirants seeking its tickets and adopted a more inclusive approach due to time constraints.

“Following the briefing at the joint meeting of the Selection Committee and Screening Committee, it was decided that all those who purchased Expression of Interest forms would be allowed to participate in the primaries in their various constituencies,” he said.

He explained that only successful candidates would be required to proceed to the party secretariat for documentation and payment of nomination forms after the primaries.

Dickson added that the party had deployed teams to various states to supervise the exercise with the support of stakeholders and local leaders.

“Our party is women- and youth-friendly. We urge the teams to be fair, open and ensure that only credible candidates with winning capacity emerge,” he stated.

The former Bayelsa governor also warned against violence during the primaries, stressing that the party would not tolerate any form of misconduct.

“We call for violence-free primaries and reiterate our zero tolerance for violent behaviour,” he added.

According to him, the party would conduct manual direct primaries due to time constraints but plans to introduce electronic voting systems in future exercises.

“As I said earlier, this will be the last manual primary. Future exercises will be fully electronic,” Dickson said.

He further urged members to support the process, noting that the NDC was being built as a long-term political institution rather than a platform driven by individual interests.