The National Leader of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Senator Seriake Dickson, has issued a stern warning to overzealous supporters of the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and his running mate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, cautioning them against disparaging and running down the political platform.

Speaking on Arise TV’s Prime Time programme, the former Bayelsa State governor dismissed rumours of an internal crisis, firmly asserting that the political party is doing the candidates a favour by granting them a platform, rather than the other way around.

In his address to the candidates’ followers, Dickson emphasised the foundational sacrifices made by the party’s leadership long before the prominent political heavyweights defected to the fold.

“Peter Obi is a cherished member of our party. On our own, we have made him sole presidential candidate, and that counts for something. None of them was part of the formation when we were registering this party; they were not there. They didn’t pay one naira; no presidential candidate paid ‘shishi’. You have to grant NDC some credit. Stop making it look like anyone is doing NDC a favour; no one is. Rather, the NDC and my colleagues are doing them [candidates] a favour by granting them our platform. You cannot be supporting Peter Obi, and you are disparaging me, the leader of the platform itself.”

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He reminded critics that neither Obi nor Kwankwaso was part of the initial formation or registration process of the party, noting that they did not contribute financially to its establishment.

“The NDC doesn’t sell nomination ticket to people. “What we have done, because we are a self-funding party, is to have aspirants make contributions and donations to the party account, and it applies to all categories of aspirants, including the presidential aspirants. Presidential aspirant is to make donation to the presidential campaign account, not to anybody; we gave our platform to them [aspirants] without discussing money.”

The Senator expressed frustration that supporters are attempting to portray the candidates as doing the NDC a favour, stating that the leadership has instead honoured Obi by making him the sole presidential candidate, and argued that followers cannot claim to support the candidate while simultaneously insulting the leader of the host platform.

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Turning to broader electoral issues, Senator Dickson criticized the National Assembly’s interference in party administration, arguing that lawmakers have no business mandating direct primaries for political parties.

He insisted that the choice of the mode of primary elections should be left entirely to the discretion of individual parties, highlighting that direct primaries often lead to chaotic situations where factions generate parallel and unverified results from unmonitored crowds.