Oby Ezekwesili

On the Record: NDC Primaries... A Better Abuja Is Inevitable | #AishaforSenate2031 As the dust settles on the NDC Primaries, I want to set the record straight: I did not quit, I did not drop out of the race. I stayed to the end. I also do not intend to litigate a process that was never truly allowed to happen, I share my truth because the people of Abuja deserve the truth. Why I Ran I came into politics from a deep conviction: that to drive the transformation we hope to see, it is not enough to complain from the outside. You must step into the ring with your convictions and fight to get into the positions where decisions are made with the weight of the law. 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. 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. The Campaign We Built I ran a campaign I am truly proud of. Our ground game was on point. We had grassroots credibility, the kind you don't manufacture in a backroom. The SAY-Nation volunteer network was formidable, so formidable that the process had to be taken out of the open and resolved through a clandestine affirmation behind closed doors. Street by street, ward by ward, conversation by conversation, we built something real. To every volunteer who knocked on doors, every supporter who argued our case in market squares and motor parks, every young person who believed that this time could be different: I see you, and I am deeply grateful. You showed Abuja what a people-powered campaign looks like. The Process That Wasn't What was billed as a primary was, in truth, a predetermined outcome dressed in procedural formalities. The primaries were repeatedly postponed. Venues were changed at the last minute. Guidelines of the party were not followed. Delegate based process was introduced to be conducted at a central location instead of the direct primaries to be conducted at Local Government headquarters. 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. The party will indeed go on to release statements upon statements about the free and fair nature of the Abuja FCT primaries. They are entitled to their voice, but the facts that transpired when litigated by conscience and the guidelines of the electoral act do not reflect justice and fairness. Why I Didn't Escalate 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. 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. It is important to note that this account reflects my experience in the Abuja FCT Senatorial race. It does not speak to what transpired in other states, nor do I claim to understand the specifics of those contests. Every state had its own dynamics, and I will not generalise from my experience. On the NDC For now, despite its shortcomings, the NDC remains the only party that has given the better Presidential candidate in the 2027 electoral cycle a platform to run. To everyone within the party working to make this possible, I am grateful. Transformation does not come from outside alone. It must also be fought for within. A Better Abuja Is Inevitable This is not the end. What we built, the network, the credibility, the grassroots trust, cannot be taken away in a backroom.