NDC Senatorial Aspirant Accuses Dickson of Imposing Candidates

A senatorial aspirant on the platform of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Ehiozuwa Agbonayinwa, has accused the party’s national leader, Seriake Dickson, of attempting to impose candidates ahead of the 2027 general election.

Agbonayinwa made the allegation on Friday during an appearance on Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television.

The aggrieved aspirant claimed that despite emerging victorious in the party’s senatorial primary election, there were plans to replace him with another candidate through an affirmation process.

He also referenced recent concerns raised by activist and politician Aisha Yesufu regarding the party’s candidate selection process, alleging that similar issues were occurring within the NDC.

According to Agbonayinwa, the party conducted its primary elections on May 29, but had yet to officially announce the results.

“Dickson is imposing candidates in the NDC. Look at what Aisha Yesufu did at the NDC national secretariat,” he said.

“NDC did primaries on May 29. Today is June 5, and the party has not announced the results.”

Agbonayinwa further alleged that Dickson had initially encouraged him to contest for the senatorial ticket and had supported his participation in the primary election.

“Dickson disappointed me totally. He told me to get the NDC Senate ticket, and I won the primary,” he stated.

“The same Dickson is now saying the party will do affirmation for one Ijaw lady instead of going with the primary election result.”

The aspirant expressed concern over what he described as attempts to undermine the outcome of the primary process, insisting that party leaders should respect the will of members and uphold internal democracy.

As of the time of filing this report, neither Dickson nor the leadership of the NDC had responded to the allegations.

The development comes amid growing concerns from some party members over the conduct of candidate selection processes ahead of the 2027 general election.