Senator Seriake Dickson, representing Bayelsa West, has warned against Nigeria sliding into a one-party state following the recent wave of defections of opposition governors to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Speaking with reporters at the National Assembly (NASS) Complex in Abuja after plenary on Wednesday, Dickson reaffirmed his loyalty to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and criticized the defections, describing them as a mockery of democracy and a threat to multiparty politics.
He noted that Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, Akwa Ibom State Governor Umo Eno, Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah, and Bayelsa State Governor Duoye Diri had all dumped the PDP for the APC.
Reacting to Diri’s defection, Dickson said: “I am where I have always been. I don’t believe Nigeria should become a one-party state. As a democrat, I understand the ups and downs of the process, but I remain constant and steadfast in the PDP.
“It’s sad. Instead of fixing the problems, they let the crisis fester and now they are bailing out. It makes Nigeria look small, ridicules our democracy, and endangers multiparty politics. What we are witnessing is political class suicide.”
He revealed that Diri consulted him several times before his defection but said he found no compelling reason to leave the PDP.
“I’m still standing where I have always stood, with the PDP, the party that gave my people the opportunity to produce a Vice President, an Acting President, and a President of the Federal Republic. The APC cannot offer that,” he said.
Dickson, a two-term governor of Bayelsa who handed over to Diri, maintained that if the PDP failed to resolve its internal crisis, members should decide collectively on the next step — but not by joining the APC.
“A democracy without opposition becomes a dictatorship,” he added, stressing his commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s multiparty democracy as a “soldier of democracy.”
