Senator representing Bayelsa West, Seriake Dickson, has criticised his successor, governor Douye Diri, for resigning from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Dickson accused Diri and other defectors of abandoning the problems they created in the PDP.
Diri announced his resignation from the PDP on Wednesday, during a cabinet meeting at the government house in Yenagoa.
The governor said he left the opposition party for “very obvious reasons”.
However, addressing newsmen after the senate plenary on Wednesday, Dickson said Diri had consulted him “several times” before making the decision, but that he found no compelling reason for a second-term governor to dump the PDP.
“I am where I have been. I am where I am. I don’t believe that Nigeria should be a one-party state,” Dickson said.
“As a soldier of democracy, I’m used to the ups and downs of political life. I remain steadfast in the Peoples Democratic Party, working with my colleagues and friends to ensure that the problems in the party are solved.”
The immediate past Bayelsa governor accused the PDP governors and members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) of being behind the crisis rocking the platform.
“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,” he said.
“They are the ones now bailing out after creating the problem that they could not solve or refused to solve. It’s very sad. Very, very sad. It’s making Nigeria look small and making our country’s democracy look ridiculous.”
Dickson said the defection trend undermines Nigeria’s multi-party democracy.
“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 system,” he said.
The senator added that Nigeria’s plural society can only thrive under a plural democratic system.
“Since I left office, I’ve not acted as a godfather. I made no demands, placed no pressure, only offered advice when consulted,” he said.
“In this case, the governor consulted me several times, but I was not convinced because I didn’t see any compelling reason for a second-term governor to defect.”
Dickson said his loyalty to the PDP is rooted in the party’s historical role in empowering the Niger Delta and the Ijaw nation.
“I am still standing in the PDP that gave my people and the Niger Delta an opportunity to run for vice-president, acting president, and president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.
“This other party cannot do that. I believe there must be opposition. A democracy without opposition ceases to be democracy.”
