Dickson Fumes As Bayelsa PDP Senator Joins APC

THE senator representing Bayelsa West, a former governor and stalwart of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Henry Seriake Dickson, fumed on plenary on Thursday, as his All Progressives Congress (APC) colleagues applauded the defection of Senator Benson Friday Konbowei, representing Bayelsa Central, to the ruling party.
This was less than 24 hours after Governor Douye Diri announced his resignation form PDP, along with virtually all elected and appointed political office holders from the state.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, beaming with smiles, read Konbowei’s defection letter aloud, attracting loud applause from the APC benches.
But Dickson, who initially sat motionless, his face betraying disbelief, suddenly, without uttering a word, packed his files, rose and walked out of the chamber.
Akpabio, in jest and rebuke, called at him: “Leader of the Bayelsa Caucus, you shouldn’t be leaving when such an important letter is being read!”
Unmoved, Dickson replied: “I have more important things to attend to.”
Outside, he warned that Nigeria’s democracy was drifting toward a dangerous imbalance: “A democracy without opposition ceases to be democracy. It becomes dictatorship and totalitarianism.”
Dickson said he remained committed to the PDP and governors defecting were making mockery of democracy.
On Diri’s defection, he 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.
“To his credit, he consulted me, but I didn’t see any compelling reason to defect. 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.
“If we fail to save the PDP, then we will decide collectively on the next step, but it certainly should not be joining the APC. A democracy without opposition becomes a dictatorship.”
Dickson, who described himself as soldier of democracy, said he was committed to strengthening multiparty politics in Nigeria.
With Konbowei’s defection, the APC now has 74 out of the 109 seats, giving it an overwhelming majority.