Ex-Bayelsa Governor Dickson dumps PDP for NDC
•‘It is time to move on’ Former Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson had defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and joined a newly registered political party, the Nigeria Democratic
•‘It is time to move on’
Former Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson had defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and joined a newly registered political party, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).
Dickson announced his defection at a media briefing yesterday in Abuja where the new party was formally unveiled.
He urged fellow Nigerians to join the NDC as a credible opposition political party ahead of the 2027 general election.
The Bayelsa West senator received the membership card 001 of NDC and its flag, as symbols and authority of the party, from the Protem Chairman, Senator Cleopas Moses Zuwogeh.
Zuwogeh also named Dickson the National Leader of the party.
Addressing reporters on the development, Dickson described the PDP as a party in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
The former governor said it was for this reason he was moving from the former ruling party-turned opposition and now an ailing party.
He said his political journey has always been driven by principle, loyalty to causes, and commitment to democratic ideals.
“I am not a regular Nigerian politician who runs after and works for the establishment. If the establishment is not doing what is right, it has to be challenged,” he said.
Dickson recalled his early involvement in Nigeria’s democratic struggle and the formation of political movements in the late 1990s, including his role in youth mobilisation and the emergence of major political parties.
“In the late 1990s, when the military began the process of returning Nigeria to democracy, I led a group of young people across this country to mobilise them to participate in the unfolding democratic process,” he said.
The ex-governor traced his political evolution through various parties before eventually joining the PDP in 2005.
“I have been a faithful and committed member of the Peoples Democratic Party since 2005. The PDP was particularly appealing to me because it was an umbrella for all Nigerians – an umbrella for the big and the small, the strong and the weak,” he added.
Dickson said he remained emotionally attached to the PDP because of its historic role in Nigeria’s democratic development.
“No other party in Nigeria, from independence till date, has done for my people and for so-called minorities what the PDP did,” the ex-governor said.
He regretted what he called the PDP’s steady decline and internal crisis.
“Unfortunately, my beloved party is not only sick; it has been sick for a long time. The PDP today is in the intensive care unit, and the doctors are not smiling,” he stated.
According to him, poor leadership and internal conflicts within the party caused the party’s disintegration.
“The governors and other leaders must take responsibility for the avoidable, self-inflicted destruction of the PDP,” he said.
Dickson warned against the emergence of a one-party system in Nigeria, stressing that the country’s diversity makes such a scenario untenable.
“Nigeria cannot be a one-party state. Anyone promoting one-party rule in Nigeria is pursuing a mirage,” he said.
The Bayelsa West senator said he had remained in the PDP for years, despite political pressure and inducement to defect.
He added: “I could have defected to the APC, even when I was governor, but I refused because Nigeria must not become a one-party state.”
Dickson said the continuing crisis within the PDP has made it increasingly difficult for the party to remain competitive ahead of future elections.
“The PDP that we kept hoping would provide a credible opposition has kept digging itself deeper into a crisis. Unfortunately, it may not be in a position to be competitive in the 2027 general election,” he said.
Dickson announced that he and his political associates had decided to move on.
“As painful and emotionally unpleasant as it is to leave this great party that offered us so much, we have to move on,” the former governor said.
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He stated that after consultations with allies across the country, they resolved to support a new political platform that would provide Nigerians with an ideological alternative.
“My friends and I have been working to give Nigerians a credible ideological platform and alternative,” he said.
Dickson explained that the platform eventually secured registration after a legal battle with the Independent National Electoral Commission.
“We went to court because INEC initially refused to register our association. The court ruled in our favour, affirming our constitutional right to freedom of association,” he said.
He hailed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for complying with the court’s ruling.
“I want to thank the Chairman of INEC and all officials who ensured that the judgment of the court was respected,” he said.
Formally announcing his new political affiliation, he said:
“As a result of that judgment, our association has now been registered as a political party. After careful consultations with my friends and associates across the country, I have decided to join the Nigeria Democratic Congress as our new political platform.”
He said the party would offer Nigerians a credible democratic alternative and strengthen multiparty democracy in the country.
When asked if he would contest for the presidency on the platform of the party, Dickson said it is not the time to take such a decision, adding: “When we gets to that bridge we will cross it.”
