Peter Obi urged Aisha Yesufu to run for the House, but she opted for the Senate – NDC

The National Secretary of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Ikenna Enekweizu, said that the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, had preferred activist Aisha Yesufu to contest the AMAC/Gwari House of Representatives seat rather than the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Senate position.

Enekweizu made the comments on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, amid questions about Yesufu’s participation in the party’s primaries.

He explained that after Obi joined the NDC, the party leadership discussed how to build consensus around the candidate for the AMAC/Gwari 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 will be the candidate of the party for the AMAC/Gwari seat,” Enekweizu 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 scribe said the party then tried to persuade Yesufu to switch back to the House of Representatives race.

According to him, the party’s national leader met with the activist twice to try to convince her to reconsider.

“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.

However, Enekweizu said Yesufu remained firm in her decision to run for the Senate.

“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,” he added.

The NDC secretary noted that Yesufu ultimately lost the primary election and advised her to use the party’s internal dispute‑resolution mechanisms if she had concerns about the process.

“Aisha Yesufu lost the primary election. If she feels aggrieved, a lot of people who also lost the primaries in other constituencies have been reaching out to us,” he said.

Enekweizu also dismissed claims that Yesufu was treated unfairly, pointing out that several supporters of Obi had contested for the same position.

“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.

His remarks came after the NDC’s National Leader, Seriake Dickson, revealed that the party had offered Yesufu a House of Representatives ticket, but she declined in favour of pursuing a Senate seat ahead of the 2027 elections.

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