The Nigeria Democratic Congress has alleged that some aspirants seeking elective positions on its platform are being sponsored by the ruling All Progressives Congress to infiltrate the party ahead of its primaries.
The party said it had already identified and confronted the affected aspirants during screening, warning that such persons would not secure the NDC’s tickets in the primaries scheduled for Friday.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, the National Publicity Secretary of the NDC, Mr. Osa Director, said the party was determined to prevent infiltration by political opportunists and agents allegedly planted by the ruling party.
Director said the NDC had intelligence from various states showing that some aspirants were not genuinely committed to the party but were allegedly being sponsored by the APC.
“We are not in a position to disclose all of our strategy because we know that we are fighting a behemoth, which is the ruling party,” he said.
“During the screening, even though we did not disqualify any person, we confronted some of those aspirants. Do you know that there are aspirants who are in the NDC that are being sponsored by the ruling party? We know that from the various states, and because we also have our intelligence, we confronted them.
“Those ones already know that they are not getting the ticket because we know that they are moles planted in the party.”
The NDC spokesperson also warned aspirants against treating the party as a platform for personal political gain, insisting that the NDC was not a special-purpose vehicle for any individual.
He said only aspirants with verifiable political pedigree, seriousness and demonstrated commitment to the values of the party would be considered for tickets.
Quoting the party’s national leader, Seriake Dickson, Director said the NDC was not a “special multipurpose vehicle” for politicians seeking advantage without genuine loyalty to the party.
“Like the national leader of the party, Seriake Dickson, said, NDC is not a special multipurpose vehicle for anyone, and that is the truth,” he said.
“We are ensuring that we are telling members that this is not a special multipurpose vehicle for you. We have some things we have put in place to checkmate these opportunistic charlatans who may want to take advantage of NDC as a vehicle.”
Director further said the party was conscious of aspirants attempting to ride on the popularity of the Peter Obi-Rabiu Kwankwaso alliance to gain political relevance.
According to him, the NDC had learnt lessons from the experience of the Labour Party and would not allow people without political structure or genuine commitment to take advantage of the party’s growing popularity.
“We are not following the playbook of the Labour Party. It is only an inexperienced person that will not learn lessons from history,” he said.
“We have learnt from the incident of the past that happened in the Labour Party. And that was why during our screening, we took particular notice of the fact that a lot of people, especially people from the diaspora, who have never participated in politics, rushed to pick forms under the platform of the NDC probably to ride on the Obi-Kwankwaso wave.
“And also because they see that the NDC is a vibrant alternative platform to the mess we are having in the country today. We are conscious of all that.”
The party’s warning comes ahead of its primaries as political activities intensify across the country in preparation for the 2027 general elections.
The post “APC-Sponsored Aspirants Won’t Get NDC Tickets” — Party Alleges Infiltration, Warns Against Riding On Obi-Kwankwaso Wave appeared first on TheNigeriaLawyer.
