‘PDP no longer exists’- Senator Dickson

Former Bayelsa State governor and senator, Seriake Dickson, has declared that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) no longer exists in its original form, blaming internal crisis and leadership failure for its collapse.

Dickson made the statement on Tuesday while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he lamented what he described as the destruction of one of Nigeria’s most dominant political platforms.

“The PDP that I came to be part of has since been killed, has since been buried,” he said.

The former governor noted that the party, which once produced successive presidents including Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan, has lost its identity and no longer reflects the structure Nigerians once trusted with power.

According to him, the crisis rocking the PDP could have been avoided if party leaders had embraced compromise and placed collective interest above personal ambition.

“People must agree to be reasonable and place the interest of the party and the country above personal ambition,” he added.

Dickson also revealed that several efforts to stabilise the party, including proposals for a caretaker arrangement, were ignored, despite multiple reconciliation attempts.

“I have chaired reconciliation committees under different leaderships, so I know the weaknesses and strengths of the party. It won’t be correct to say that I left PDP. The PDP, unfortunately, has left us,” he said.

He warned that the decline of the PDP poses a setback for Nigeria’s democracy, given its historical role as a major opposition and ruling party.