Senator representing Bayelsa West, Senator Seriake Dickson has called for calm among Bayelsans as the State Governor Senator Douye Diri and others de camped to the ruling Party, APC.
He made the call while briefing Journalists in National Assembly, Abuja, on the recent defections by the members of the PDP in Bayelsa State.
The Senator reaffirmed his royalty to the PDP despite the detections by other party members.
He acknowledged the crisis in the party but expressed that good leaders must remain steadfast in the times of challenges.
The Senator said he will work together with his other party members to resolve the issues in the party.
He urged all parties to maintain peace ahead of the 2027 elections.
The former Governor accused Governor Douye and other defected ones , of running away from mess created by them .
Senator Dickson though admitted that Governor Diri , consulted him several times on his plan to dump PDP but said he was never convinced as there was no compelling need for that , particularly from a second term governor ..
Nigeria according to him, being a plural society , deserves functional and vibrant multiparty democracy and not one party, one which breeds dictatorship and authoritarianism.
He said : ” I am where I have been. I am where I am. 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 democratic life, and political life especially. And I’m still as constant. As a northern star.
“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.
“And they are the ones now bailing out after creating the problem that they could not solve or refuse to solve. It’s very sad. Very, very sad. It’s making Nigeria look small and making our country’s democracy look ridiculous.
” We don’t really know what they are pursuing or what is pursuing them. But whatever it is, it belittles our democracy and endangers our multi-party democracy.
” I believe in a multi-party Nigeria. A plural Nigeria can only thrive on a plural democratic environment. That’s what has happened. But on the specifics of Bayelsa, you know, since I left and handed over to all the members who used to be part of my team, and I left, unlike others who are godfathers, I’ve not been a godfather. Left everything. No requests, no demands, no pressure. Only being available for consultation and advice.
“I’m just using this to say that I am still standing. in the PDP that gave my people ( the Ijaw Nation ) and the Niger Delta people an opportunity to run election, to emerge as vice president of this country, acting president of Nigeria, and president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
” This other party cannot do that. And I’m standing there with the PDP. If and when, if we don’t succeed in retrieving the PDP, in saving the PDP, then we’ll be part of a collective decision, which again, should not be the ruling party.
“Because I believe there must be opposition. A democracy without opposition ceases to be democracy”.
