The National Reconciliation Committee of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) has been charged with the task of putting party unity ahead of personal ambition, as its chairman, Prof. Pat Utomi, warned that political narcissism remains one of the biggest obstacles to Nigeria’s progress.

Utomi said Nigeria could not reclaim its historic leadership role in Africa while politicians remained consumed by personal ambitions and internal divisions.

He spoke in Abuja shortly after the inauguration of the committee, constituted to reconcile aggrieved aspirants and stakeholders following the NDC’s nationwide congresses, convention and primary elections ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The renowned economist and political thinker said the reconciliation exercise went beyond resolving disagreements within the party, stressing that the larger objective should be the restoration of collective purpose.

He lamented what he described as the growing tendency among political actors to place personal interests above the interests of the wider society.

“The tendency to focus on self, this narcissism that’s eating up our political space, has prevented us from remembering who we are as Africans,” Utomi said.

According to him, Nigerians must recognise that individual progress is inseparable from collective prosperity, arguing that political actors would be more willing to resolve their differences if they understood the consequences of allowing personal ambitions to undermine the common good.

“We all have the possibilities of thriving because the collective thrives,” he said.

Utomi urged aggrieved members of the NDC to see their disagreements in perspective, describing them as minor compared with what he called the greater opportunity before Nigerians.

“These are small things compared to the greater good that is out there that we can claim as a people,” he said.

He also invoked the history of political parties, noting that successful parties are not those without disagreements but those capable of managing their differences through dialogue, maturity and sportsmanship.

The committee, he said, must therefore approach its assignment with fairness and a commitment to rebuilding trust among members.

Earlier, NDC National Chairman, Cleopas Moses, said the committee was not established merely to settle disputes arising from the party’s primaries but to rebuild confidence within the organisation.

Moses acknowledged that disagreements were almost inevitable in the process of selecting candidates, particularly under Nigeria’s electoral framework.

He expressed confidence in the committee’s ability to navigate the grievances generated by the party’s internal electoral processes.

“History has shown that political parties succeed not because they never experienced disagreements, but because they possess the wisdom and courage to resolve all issues in the spirit of unity and shared purpose and the spirit of sportsmanship,” he said.

The national chairman said the party’s National Working Committee and national leader had confidence in the committee’s experience, credibility and moral authority to deliver on its mandate.

He also pointed to the difficulty of conducting internal primaries without generating disputes, citing unresolved grievances from previous electoral cycles as evidence of how deeply such disagreements can persist.

“As I speak to you, I have a file of N150 million on my head of primaries that took place in 2011 in Kano,” Moses said, illustrating the financial and political consequences of unresolved internal disputes.

For the NDC, the reconciliation exercise now presents an early test of whether the party can transform its internal disagreements into a demonstration of the political maturity it hopes to offer Nigerians ahead of 2027.

Utomi’s message placed the challenge beyond party politics: unless political actors learn to subordinate personal ambition to collective interest, he warned, Nigeria’s capacity to provide leadership within Africa will remain weakened by the divisions within its own political system.