Activist Aisha Yesufu has accused the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) of subverting the process for selecting the party’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) senatorial candidate, saying she could not compromise her values in a process she described as unjust.

Yesufu made the allegation in a statement issued on Friday night, hours after announcing that the party would not be conducting primaries for the FCT Senate seat, effectively ending her bid for the ticket.

The activist had declared her intention to contest the race on May 6 after joining the NDC from the African Democratic Congress (ADC), saying her decision was inspired by the leadership experience she gained in her former party.

Her declaration came amid growing speculation that the party had already resolved to hand the FCT Senate ticket to another aspirant, Amanda Pam, who had been a member of the party before Yesufu joined.

Addressing supporters earlier on Friday, Yesufu urged them to remain calm and focus on the broader political objective ahead of the 2027 general election.

In a subsequent statement, however, she alleged that the process leading to the emergence of the party’s candidate was marred by injustice and violations of electoral guidelines.

“I understood what I was getting into. I knew that the quality of our politics has not yet risen to the occasion, that values-based candidates do not easily emerge by merit in a system built to resist them,” she said.

“But I made a decision going in: I would not compromise my values. I would stand for what is right. I did not leave advocacy to go into politics. I took advocacy into politics.”

Yesufu said she built her campaign on grassroots credibility and argued that the strength of her “SAY-Nation” movement altered the course of the party’s decision-making process.

According to her, the team became so formidable that the selection process “had to be taken out of the open and resolved through a clandestine affirmation behind closed doors.”

She further alleged that “what was billed as a primary was, in truth, a predetermined outcome dressed in procedural formalities”.

The activist claimed that the FCT senate primary process was repeatedly delayed, with venues changed at the last minute and party guidelines ignored.

“The delegate-based process was introduced to be conducted at a central location instead of direct primaries at Local Government headquarters,” she claimed.

“When the moment came, the contest was not decided by delegates in the open; it was affirmed in a closed room, away from the people whose voices it was supposed to reflect.”

She added that while the party may present the exercise as transparent, the events surrounding the process did not reflect fairness.

“The party may go on to release statements about the free and fair nature of the primary, but the facts that transpired, when weighed against conscience and the guidelines of the Electoral Act, do not reflect justice and fairness,” she said.

Explaining why she did not immediately challenge the outcome, Yesufu said she preferred to learn from the experience rather than become entangled in a lengthy grievance process.

“I ran to win. But when the process was subverted, I made a choice: I would not exhaust myself in a grievance process designed to wear people down. I chose instead to extract every lesson this experience had to offer,” she said.

“I now understand the architecture of the system in ways no textbook, no punditry, no amount of outside observation could ever teach.

“That knowledge is worth more than any petition I could have filed. I leave this process with something far more valuable than a ticket; I leave with clarity.”

Yesufu stressed that her account was limited to her experience in the FCT Senate contest and should not be interpreted as a reflection of events in other states.

Despite her criticisms, she maintained confidence in the party’s broader political role ahead of the 2027 elections.

“Despite its shortcomings, the NDC remains the only party that has given the best presidential candidate in the 2027 electoral cycle a platform to run,” she said.

The NDC had not issued an official response to the allegations as of the time of filing this report.Featured

…Defeats Chinyeaka Ohaa, Gilbert Nnaji

Prof. James Ene-Nwannaji has emerged as the governorship candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) for the 2027 governorship election in Enugu State.

Ene-Nwannaji was declared winner of the party’s governorship primary election conducted across the 17 local government areas of the state on Friday.

He defeated other aspirants in the contest, including Chief Chinyeaka Ohaa and Senator Gilbert Nnaji.

Secretary of the NDC in Enugu State, Dr. Sebastine Okafor, who announced the outcome to journalists, said the exercise was conducted in line with the directive of the party’s national secretariat.

Okafor stated that the primary elections were peaceful and complied with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2026.

According to him, officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) monitored the exercise across the state.

The party also announced the winners of its senatorial primaries in the three senatorial districts of the state.

Dr. Chika Obetta emerged as the candidate for Enugu North Senatorial District, while Dr.  Celelia Ikechukwu clinched the ticket for Enugu East Senatorial District. Ugochi Ohajekwe was declared winner of the Enugu West Senatorial District primary.

Similarly, the party unveiled some of its candidates for the House of Representatives election.

Dr. Stephen Ugwoke emerged as candidate for Nsukka/Igboeze South Federal Constituency, while Barr. Chimezie Nwodo secured the ticket for Nkanu East/Nkanu West Federal Constituency.

Kene Nnadi emerged candidate for Enugu North/Enugu South Federal Constituency, while Comrade Felix Ijegalu won the ticket for Udi/Ezeagu Federal Constituency.

Onyebuchi Nwabueze also emerged as candidate for Igbo-Etiti/Uzo-Uwani Federal Constituency.

The party said the names of the remaining House of Representatives and House of Assembly candidates would be released later.

Reacting to the outcome of the primaries, the Chairman of the NDC in Enugu State, Dr. Johnpaul Ani, described the exercise as transparent and well-organised.

“It was conducted in line with the guidelines of the party and in compliance with the Electoral Act 2026.

“The conduct across the state was peaceful and it shows a party that is interested in winning elections. You can see the calibre of candidates we elected; these are people with character.

“They are vibrant, they are young and well positioned to win the main election,” Ani said.

He urged aspirants who did not emerge victorious to accept the outcome of the exercise and work with the party ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“We are using this opportunity to tell those who did not emerge to accept the outcome and work together with the party to win the general elections.

“All eyes now should be on the bigger election, which is coming up in January 2027,” he added.

Two days to the deadline for the conclusion of all primary elections, six of the political parties participating in the 2027 presidential elections have confirmed their candidates.

Among those that have concluded their presidential primaries and confirmed their candidates are the All Progressives Congress (APC) which is fielding President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Atiku Abubakar, Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) Donald Duke, Social Democratic Party, (SDP), Adewole Adebayo, Africa Action Congress (AAC)Omoyele Sowore and Sandy Onor is the candidate of the Nyesom Wike backed Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Atiku wins ADC primary

At the end of collation yesterday, the ADC declared that out of a total of 3, 113,599 million registered members, only 2,527,977 voted.

The declared results show that Atiku won with 1, 846,370 votes while Amaechi polled 504, 117 and Hayatu-Deen, 177, 120 votes.

The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) is expected to affirm the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi as its presidential candidate as he is the sole aspirant for the presidential ticket of the party.

There are indications that the Accord Party would also affirm governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, as its presidential candidate before Saturday.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had set May 30, as the deadline for the conclusion of all primary elections for the parties to elect their candidates for the various offices for contest in 2027 which are State House of Assembly, National Assembly, governorship as well as the presidential elections.

The conduct of party primaries, including resolution of disputes arising from primaries, commenced on 23rd April 2026 and is expected to end on Saturday, May 30, 2026.

Daily Trust reports that as the exercise commenced on May 23, the political parties fixed their primaries on different dates with the last one being the presidential primary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) where former Vice President Atiku Abubakar emerged winner defeating former governor of Rivers State Rotimi Amaechi and banker, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen.

Our correspondents report that the exercise was marred by allegations of vote manipulations and non- compliance with the Electoral Act, which led some aggrieved aspirants to quit their parties.

Among those that left their parties due to frustration from the conduct of their primaries are former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, former Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu and former Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege.

Our correspondents report the circumstances under which the parties elected their candidates.

Tinubu and the 10.9m votes

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu emerged the APC presidential candidate for the 2027 general election on Monday.

In the result of the APC primaries held across the country, President Tinubu secured 10.9 million votes.

He defeated his lone challenger, Stanley Osifo, who polled 16,504 votes, in the election held across 8,809 wards in the country.

Osifo expressed satisfaction with the process and congratulated the president while he was being presented with the certificate of return.

PRP: Donald Duke

The Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), on Tuesday, declared a former Governor of Cross River, Donald Duke, as its presidential flag bearer for the 2027 general elections.

The party’s National Chairman, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, who made the announcement at the PRP national secretariat in Abuja, said Duke secured the presidential ticket after scoring the highest votes at the primary election.

Baba-Ahmed stated that Duke swept the polls with 6,499 votes, with his closest rival, Kingsley Yakubu, who mounted a nationwide campaign focusing on youth inclusion and economic reform, scoring 2,699 votes.

He said that Dr Nnaoke Ufere, an academic and policy expert, came third with 784 votes.

While declaring the official results, Baba-Ahmed said that the exercise was free, credible and devoid of any form of bias.

Sowore emerges AAC presidential candidate

Human rights activist Omoyele Sowore also emerged as the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) for the 2027 elections.

Sowore was declared the AAC candidate during the party’s presidential primaries held in Abuja.

In his address, the chairman of the AAC primary election committee, Kayode Babayemi, said Sowore’s adoption shows the party’s confidence in his commitment to justice, good governance, and democracy.

While accepting his nomination as the AAC flag bearer, Sowore described the party as the only genuine opposition in Nigeria.

“This year, our party, the African Action Congress, turns eight years old. As the only registered socialist party in Nigeria and indeed the only genuine opposition, we have stood firm as a moral and ideological alternative to the criminal conspiracy that other parties disguise as democracy,” Sowore said.

Adebayo: SDP’s presidential candidate

Prince Adewole Adebayo also emerged as the sole presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) for the 2027 general elections.

He was reported to have been elected by delegates from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) during the party’s 2026 national convention held on Saturday at the Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Memorial Stadium in Bauchi.

In his acceptance speech, the Ondo-born politician said he joined the presidential race to rescue Nigeria from its current challenges, describing the nation’s condition as alarming.

“Nigerians are hungry and homeless. We are jobless. We are without peace. We are without leadership,” he said.

Makinde, Hashim to be affirmed

Oyo State governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde, has also formally declared his intention to contest the 2027 presidential election on the platform of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM).

The governor disclosed this at a rally held at Mapo Hall in Ibadan, amid a growing political realignment in the state following the factionalissrion of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 2027 general election.

Makinde had earlier led the Tanimu Turaki faction of the PDP in Oyo State to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the APM as part of a strategic alliance for the forthcoming elections.

Under the agreement, candidates of the PDP faction loyal to him and contesting for governorship, Senate, House of Representatives and State House of Assembly seats were expected to run on the platform of the APM rather than the PDP in the 2027 elections.

A former presidential candidate and 2027 presidential hopeful, Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, moved to the Accord Party and declared his intention to contest the 2027 presidential election on the party’s platform.

He said over one million supporters have so far been mobilised into the Accord Party as part of efforts to build a formidable political movement ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“We have quietly mobilised about one million of our supporters into the Accord Party, and we are still doing so,” he said.

Hashim also reacted to reports suggesting that the Accord Party would not field a presidential candidate in 2027, saying it is not true.

He is one of those expected to be affirmed before Saturday.

I believe Amaechi, Hayatu-Deen will take their grievance to the Appeal committee

Meanwhile speaking on the concerns raised by Amaechi and Hayatu-Deen, a chieftain of the ADC Kola Ologbondiyan told Daily Trust that aggrieved parties will take their case to the appeal committee.

He said the party has its internal Mechanism of dealing with such issues and believed that the aspirants will approach the committee.

He said, “There is an appeal committee after the Primary election. Those that have issues I believe will take their case there. Also the party has several internal mechanism in dealing with the issue. So I believe the issue will be resolved soon. “

Meanwhile efforts to get the reaction of the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi was not successful.

He is yet to respond to messages sent to his phone as at the time of filing this report.