Ex-Bayelsa gov speaks on Diri’s exit from PDP

Bayelsa West Senator, Seriake Dickson, has revealed that Governor Douye Diri consulted him before resigning from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

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He, however, said he advised the governor against the decision because he was not convinced of the reasons for leaving the party.

Mr Dickson, a former governor of Bayelsa State, who supported and handed over to Mr Diri, said that even if there were genuine issues prompting the governor’s decision, he should have allowed party leaders to address and resolve them before choosing to leave.

The senator stated this on Wednesday while speaking with journalists at the National Assembly in Abuja, shortly after news of Governor Diri’s defection went viral.

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“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. No reason. And we know the issues in the PDP, but issues are there to be solved by the governors and the leaders,” he said.

Mr Dickson emphasised his loyalty to the PDP, noting that he remains in the party out of appreciation for the opportunities it has provided the Ijaw people and the Niger Delta region.

“Are they not the leaders of the parties? But that’s where we are. I’m just using this to say that I am still standing in the PDP that gave my Bayelsa people, my Ijaw people 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, PDP. This other party cannot do that. And I’m standing there in the PDP,” he added.

Reports of Governor Diri’s resignation from the PDP broke early Wednesday, although he has yet to formally announce his new political platform. His spokesperson, Daniel Alabra, confirmed the development to PREMIUM TIMES.

Mr Diri’s resignation comes just hours after Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State also dumped the PDP for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Bayelsa, located in Nigeria’s South-south region, has long been a PDP stronghold. Mr Diri was among the last remaining PDP governors in the region after Akwa-Ibom Governor, Umo Eno, defected to the APC in June. Delta State governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, defected earlier to the ruling party.

Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State is now the only PDP governor left in the South-south. It is being speculated that the governor, who returned from a six month suspension recently, will soon move to the APC.

Meanwhile, with Mr Diri’s exit, the number of the PDP governors has reduced to eight. They are the governors of Rivers, Adamawa, Bauchi, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Taraba, and Zamfara while the APC now controls 24 states.

If Mr Diri officially joins the APC, the ruling party will command five of the six South-south states.

Retrieving the PDP

Mr Dickson expressed concern about the deepening crisis within the PDP, stressing that efforts must continue to rebuilding the opposition party.

However, he noted that if those efforts fail, he would consider other political options, though not the APC.

“If and when 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.

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The senator added that opposition politics does not necessarily mean antagonism, giving instances where he supported the government’s policies based on principle.

He said, “A democracy without opposition ceases to be democracy. It became a dictatorship from that day. It becomes totalitarian from that day.

“Opposition does not mean you have to be fighting. Here I am supporting the president’s nomination. By the constitution, it is the responsibility of the president to forward the name of INEC chairman to us, and he has done that.

“I know there are people who say a president who is partisan should not have that power, but that is not the law as it is. That is the law as it ought to be, probably.

“By the existing law, it is the constitutional responsibility and prerogative of the president to forward a name, and if I find that worthy, I support.

“The other day, they declared an emergency in River State. I came here to condemn it, and I still do so. You can’t be wrong and get (it) right. We proposed a law on taxation reform. I supported it because I’m a federalist. I’m not in this political service for other constitutions. I’m in it to advance my ideals, and values that are bigger than me, that are bigger than all of us. Those are the things that move me, that have brought me to politics.”