Expresses support for President Bola Tinubu’s nomination of Prof. Amupitan
By Onwe Wisdom|Pan Afric Reporters NASS, Abuja
Barely hours after Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa West) has come out strongly against the move, describing it as “running away from the mess they created.”
Reacting to the development shortly after Wednesday’s Senate plenary, Dickson accused Diri and other defectors of abandoning the PDP at a time the party needed them most. “I hope that the governors and the leadership working committee who created this mess in our party, all of them, and who instead of showing leadership, have created this mess and ensured that it has persisted for this long,” Dickson lamented. “They are the ones now bailing out after creating the problem that they could not solve or refused to solve. It’s very sad. Very, very sad. It’s making Nigeria look small and making our country’s democracy look ridiculous.”
While confirming that Governor Diri had consulted him several times before taking the decision, Dickson said he was never convinced there was any “compelling reason” for a second-term governor to defect. “As in this case, the governor consulted me several times to his credit. And I was not convinced because I didn’t see any compelling reason for a second-term governor to defect,” he said.
The former Bayelsa governor, who has been a prominent voice for internal party democracy, reiterated his loyalty to the PDP and commitment to Nigeria’s multi-party system. “I am where I have been. I am where I am,” Dickson declared firmly. “I don’t believe that Nigeria should be a one-party state. And as a soldier of democracy, I’m used to the ups and downs of democratic practices and political life. I’m still as constant as the northern star steadfast in the Peoples Democratic Party.”
He warned that mass defections by political leaders could weaken Nigeria’s democracy and erode its plural character. “We don’t really know what they are pursuing or what is pursuing them,” Dickson stated. “But whatever it is, it belittles our democracy and endangers our multi-party democracy. A plural Nigeria can only thrive on a plural democratic environment.”
Despite his criticism of Diri’s move, Senator Dickson expressed support for President Bola Tinubu’s nomination of Professor Joash Amupitan as the new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Commending the choice, he said, “President Tinubu has made a very good choice, and I will be casting my vote, I will be supporting the nomination.”
Dickson, who serves on the Senate Electoral Committee, further assured that he and his colleagues would ensure meaningful electoral reforms. “We expect him, as a professor of law and a senior advocate of Nigeria the first senior advocate to be so nominated — to understand his place in history,” he said.
The Bayelsa senator concluded with a strong affirmation of democratic balance: “I’m still standing with the PDP that gave my people the Ijaw Nation and the Niger Delta an opportunity to produce a vice president, acting president, and president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. A democracy without opposition ceases to be democracy.”
