* Dickson, Cleopass’ silence unsettles party members
* Party yet to constitute campaign council weeks to election
* We shall name our campaign team Nov 20, says NDC chieftain
By Charles Olewezi
In about 90 days from now, the presidential election will hold nationwide.
Campaign activities have began nationwide with some of the major political parties constituting their Presidential Campaign Councils.
But while these are going on, the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC, is still lagging behind.
More worrisome is the silence by Seriake Dickson, founder and leader of the NDC.
This silence is unsettling lovers of the party
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had fixed January 16, 2027 as date for the presidential polls.
A reliable source within the NDC who pleaded to remain anonymous told this reporter that the delay is allegedly due to the “moles” planted by the ruling party inside NDC to weaken the party machinery. He said, “Are you not aware that the ruling party has planted moles within our party to cause problems for us and possibly hijack our party machinery as we go into the 2027 general elections. Look at what they have done to PDP and other opposition parties.
”So they are waiting for us to constitute our campaign council and appoint some of these spies into sensitive positions and use them against us. This is why our Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and his running mate, Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso have pleaded for time to select persons whose loyalty and integrity cannot be doubted. They have communicated this to our leader, Senator Seriake Dickson who himself has been under intense pressure from the ruling party to constitute the council. So, you ask yourself, why are they interested in knowing the members of the council if not that they have planted their men in NDC.”
The source noted that the plan by Obi and Kwakwanso is to constitute the presidential campaign council few weeks before the election and hit the ground running with massive campaigns nationwide.
”We don’t want to do our own the usual way because of our previous experience. Peter Obi has told us all to go back to our wards and local governments to begin the campaign instead of waiting for the usual Abuja Campaign Council meetings. So the emphasis for him is not on a campaign council that may be compromised but on party faithfuls who will be ready to take the message of the party to their immediate communities.”
But a party chieftain in Kano, Ahmed Bako while commenting on the continued delay by the party’s national leader to constitute a Presidential Campaign Council said, “If Dickson is silent, it is because his party is at war with itself. When Seriake Dickson founded NDC, he was seen as a neutral father-figure who could house two homeless giants – Peter Obi’s Obidient Movement which left Labour after its crisis, and Rabiu Kwankwaso’s Kwankwasiyya which abandoned NNPP after its leadership tussle.
The deal was simple: Dickson provides the structure and the name. Obi provides the national crowd. Kwankwaso provides Kano and the North-West bloc. Together they take the centre. However, seven months after, that deal is threatening to kill the party.”
Our investigations into the happenings in NDC reveal a three-way battle for control of the party organs, especially the most prized organ – the Presidential Campaign Council.
Chukwuma Amadi, a member of the party from the Obidient camp declared recently, “We are the soul. We gave NDC 70% of its current membership from social media mobilisation. We must produce both the Presidential candidate and the DG of campaign council. Kwankwaso should take Party Chairman.”
On the other hand, feelers from the Kwankwasiyya camp of the party are claiming that without Kano, you cannot win, noting that Kwankwaso is the most experienced politician among the three. They argue that since he dropped his presidential ambition to accept to be running mate to Obi, he should be allowed to choose the DG of the Presidential Campaign Council backed with the power to nominate other key members of the council.
But the Dickson camp is said to have fired back, saying, “This is NDC, not Labour, not NNPP. Dickson is National Leader and custodian of Card 001. No campaign council list is valid without his signature. He must chair the council as father of the party.”
A source close to the National Working Committee said: “Obi wants Alex Otti’s former campaign DG. Kwankwaso wants Buba Galadima. Dickson wants a Bayelsa technocrat as compromise DG. Nobody agrees.”
Buba Galadima was a founding member of NNPP with Kwankwaso. In 2025/2026, the big opposition coalition (Atiku, Peter Obi, Kwankwaso, El-Rufai) adopted NDC / ADC coalition as their platform for 2027.
Galadima moved with Kwankwaso into NDC and is now Chairman of the Coordinating Strategic Committee for the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket. As of last week, he was on some national stations speaking for NDC and attacking APC.
On a deeper view, the consequence of this delay by the leadership of the NDC in constituting a presidential campaign council is paralysis. State chapters are confused as they wait for the party’s next decision on the issue. Fundraising activities are on hold.
Many of the party followers are at a crossroad on the delay with concerns centered on the limited time left for serious campaigns. They argue that a serious political party should be talking about where and when to commence real campaign and not this confusion about who leads the campaign council. This is why the silence of Seriake Dickson looks suspicious from the outside without an insider explanation.
However, sources reveal that the NDC’s PCC will be inaugurated on November 20, 2027, less than two months before the election.