By Kachi Okezie, Esq
The National Democratic Coalition (NDC) has become one of the fastest-rising political platforms in Nigeria. In an astonishingly short time, the “Peter Obi effect” has given the party visibility, momentum and a surge of aspirants eager to recreate the energy and disruption of 2023. That kind of political capital cannot be bought. It is earned through timing, public sentiment and belief.
But momentum in politics is fragile. If perception, structure and discipline are not carefully managed, today’s advantage can quickly become tomorrow’s liability.
That is why the warning issued by media and public relations strategist Dr. Uche Nworah deserves serious attention. His argument, presented through his Facebook page, is not about trivial optics or social media distractions. It is about professionalism, institutional credibility and public trust at the precise moment the NDC’s identity is being formed in the minds of Nigerians. And he is right.
In politics, perception often arrives long before policy. Every image, setting and process communicates something about competence, seriousness, and readiness for power. When party leaders receive official visitors whilst lolling and slouching barefoot in a private living room, the message conveyed is not humility or accessibility. Fairly or unfairly, it projects the image of an informal and casual political possé rather than a government-in-waiting.
For voters and donors attracted by the disciplined, reform-minded image that powered the Labour Party’s 2023 surge, the question becomes unavoidable: if a party struggles to project organisational order, how will it govern a country in distress? At present, the NDC is benefiting from the credibility and emotional energy of the Obi movement while simultaneously projecting signals that undermine that same credibility. That contradiction creates uncertainty. Uncertainty fuels damaging narratives. And in politics, the narrative you fail to control eventually controls you.
More troubling, according to the word on the street, are allegations from aspirants about excessive monetary demands disguised as efforts to “build the party.” Whether every accusation is true is almost irrelevant. What matters is the perception. And in politics, perception moves faster than verified truth. Once people begin to believe a process is transactional, the reputational damage sets in quickly.
The consequences are immediate. The party risks alienating exactly the kind of credible aspirants it hopes to attract: people already disillusioned with the transactional politics of older mainstream parties. At the same time, it hands opponents an easy and devastating attack line: that the NDC is merely the PDP or APC rebranded. That could be fatal.
Once the public begins associating a party’s screening process with “bazaar politics,” reversing that perception becomes extraordinarily difficult. Press conferences and denials rarely erase reputational damage once it hardens in the public imagination.
The operational structure of the party also raises legitimate concerns. Running political activities from a private residence may be common in Nigeria, but it weakens institutional credibility. Without a functional secretariat, there is no clear administrative structure, no institutional memory, and no meaningful separation between the party and its principal figures.
As political activity intensifies, that model becomes unsustainable. Decisions become opaque, delegation weakens, accountability suffers, and records remain informal or nonexistent. The distinction is fundamental: institutions endure; personality vehicles do not. Right now, the NDC risks appearing too much like the latter.
This is why Nworah’s intervention matters. He is identifying a serious credibility and governance problem at a critical stage; just months before the political climate fully intensifies ahead of elections.
The encouraging reality is that these problems are still fixable. The party does not need an expensive rebrand or a decade-long restructuring process. What it needs are immediate, visible actions that signal seriousness, professionalism, and institutional maturity.
The first and most obvious step is to move official operations into a proper secretariat. The NDC does not need a lavish headquarters, but it does need a professional office with structure, branding, staff presence, and a formal environment for meetings and media engagements. Official interactions with aspirants, journalists, and stakeholders should happen there, not in private sitting rooms. Smart desks and chairs, not large sofas and coffee tables. The office itself becomes a visible symbol that the party is building an institution rather than revolving around personalities.
Transparency must also become non-negotiable. Screening procedures, fees, timelines, and selection criteria should be published openly across official platforms and communicated clearly to every aspirant. A small independent complaint panel involving respected figures from civil society or the public sector would also go a long way toward restoring confidence. Nothing neutralises allegations faster than openness.
The party must also take communications more seriously. Politics is visual, and serious political organisations understand the importance of disciplined image management. Casual photographs circulated without context may seem harmless internally, but publicly they shape perceptions of competence and leadership readiness. The NDC urgently needs a communications structure capable of managing messaging, imagery, and public engagement with professionalism.
Equally important is the need to demonstrate that the party is governed by rules rather than personalities and a whim. A short publicly adverstised covenant with aspirants, committing the party to transparent primaries, published timelines, fair dispute resolution, and internal accountability, would send a powerful signal. If publicly endorsed by figures such as Peter Obi and Senator Seriake Dickson, it could help reinforce the idea that the NDC intends to operate differently from the parties Nigerians have grown tired of.
The party must also broaden its visible leadership structure. At present, too much public attention is concentrated on a single figure. Nigerians (and the world) need to see a functioning National Working Committee, designated spokespersons, and clearly distributed responsibilities. Strong political institutions distribute authority. Weak ones centralise everything around personalities.
Most importantly, the leadership must address growing concerns directly. Silence rarely works in politics, especially during reputational crises. A brief but direct public acknowledgment of concerns, combined with visible corrective measures, would likely do more to restore confidence than endless denials. When people believe they are being heard, trust becomes easier to rebuild.
The NDC’s current momentum rests heavily on the perception that it represents a cleaner, more organised alternative to traditional political structures. That perception is valuable, but it is also incredibly fragile. If aspirants leave the process convinced it is merely another money-for-ticket system, the excitement will fade quickly. If the party continues projecting disorder or informality, the media narrative will harden around incompetence before campaigns even begin.
And once credibility begins to erode, rebuilding it becomes far more difficult than protecting it in the first place.
Nworah’s warning, with which I am in complete agreement, should therefore not be dismissed as criticism over optics or symbolism. At its core, it is a warning about institutional credibility, organisational discipline, and political trust.
The good news for the NDC is that these weaknesses remain entirely correctable, if addressed quickly. A professional office, transparent processes, disciplined communications, and visible institutional structure could significantly reshape public perception within weeks.
The party already has the country’s attention. What it needs now is the discipline to show it deserves it.
