By Omoyeni Ojeifo
Former House of Representatives member, Ehiozuwa Agbonayinwa (APC-Edo) has accused leaders of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of betrayal, manipulation, and violations of internal party democracy ahead of the party’s Edo South senatorial primary.
Agbonayinwa made the allegations during an interview on Channels TV on Friday night monitored by Persecondnews, where he described his experience in the party as worse than what he had previously witnessed in other political platforms.
“I thought APC was bad. It’s like leaving frying pan to hell fire. Within months of joining NDC, I discovered the situation was worse than what I experienced previously politically,” he said.
He alleged that former Bayelsa State governor and NDC national leader, Seriake Dickson, personally persuaded him to contest for the Senate instead of the House of Representatives.
He further claimed that Dickson instructed party officials to issue him nomination forms, which he paid for, only for the party leadership to later deny ever supporting his ambition.
“I wanted to contest for House of Representatives, but Senator Seriake Dickson repeatedly encouraged me to run for Senate and promised me the senatorial ticket during several political meetings but later denied making such promises after I fully committed myself politically and financially to the contest,” he said.
Agbonayinwa stressed that he won the senatorial primary in several local government areas including Oredo, Ikpoba-Okha and Egor, but alleged that the process was manipulated elsewhere to favour another aspirant.
He alleged that the outcome of the primary in his constituency has not been officially announced since May 29, insisting there were attempts to manipulate the process in favour of a female aspirant through an affirmation arrangement rather than a proper primary.
“The outcome of the senatorial primary in my constituency has not been officially announced since May 29, and that is because there is an attempt to manipulate the process in favour of a female aspirant through an affirmation arrangement rather than a proper primary,” he said.
Agbonayinwa argued that the Electoral Act is clear, stating that political parties must either conduct direct primaries or secure written consent from all aspirants before adopting a consensus candidate, warning that anything outside the process amounts to a violation of the law.
He maintained that political parties must embrace transparency and fairness if Nigeria’s democracy is to improve.
“If NDC truly wants to succeed and gain public trust across Nigeria, the party must tow the path of righteousness and strictly obey democratic principles and electoral laws,” he emphasized.
Agbonayinwa said he has moved through several political platforms over the years, including AC, ACD, APC, PDP, and ADC, saying his decisions were driven by a search for credible internal democracy.
“Democracy is supposed to be government of the people, by the people and for the people, but what we have seen across political parties is a distortion of that principle and failure of internal democracy,” he noted.
He said he and other stakeholders are still consulting on future political direction, including possible alignment with the Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA) kkdepending on developments.