Ikenna Enekweizu, the National Secretary of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has revealed that Peter Obi wanted his close ally, Aisha Yesufu, to contest for the AMAC/Gwari House of Representatives seat rather than the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Senate seat.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, Enekweizu explained that after Obi joined the party, discussions were held on how he could help build agreement around the party’s candidate for the AMAC/Gwari constituency.
According to him, Obi personally suggested that Yesufu should run for the House of Representatives 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 will be the candidate of the party for the AMAC/Gwari seat,” he said.
“He told me personally that he wanted Aisha Yesufu to run for the house of representatives seat of AMAC/Gwari.
“But two or three days after he said this to me, I was surprised to read on social media that Aisha is running for senate. We didn’t discuss that.”
The NDC secretary said the party leadership later tried to convince Yesufu to reconsider and contest for the lower legislative seat.
“The national leader of the party invited Aisha Yesufu, met with her twice, appealing to her to run for the house of representatives,” he said.
“But Aisha said she was bigger than the reps office. She said she wanted to be a senator and nothing would stop her from going to the senate. So we allowed her to run.”
Enekweizu also denied claims that Yesufu was treated unfairly, pointing out that she was not the only supporter of Peter Obi who sought the party ticket.
“She’s not the only supporter of Peter Obi that ran for AMAC/Gwari. Twenty-three aspirants bought the expression of interest and nomination form. How do we manage them all?” he asked.
He added that the NDC, like every political party, has the constitutional right to decide who represents it in elections.
His comments come a few days after Seriake Dickson, the party’s national leader, also stated that Obi and the NDC leadership had offered Yesufu the opportunity to contest for a House of Representatives seat, but she turned down the offer.
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