Senator Seriake Dickson is the Senator representing Bayelsa West in the National Assembly and the former governor of the state. In this Channels TV interview monitored by ADEYEMI LAHANMI discusses the internal crisis of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the painful decision of leaving the party to become one of the leaders of newly formed Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC)

You abandoned ship, why?

What has happened in the circumstances of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) now and the crisis we have been managing now and I’ve been part of reconciliation processes, but unfortunately it defiled all reasonable situations.

There were straight forward solutions before us but those driving it and by the way the same governors that disagreed have jumped ship. Before our eyes, our trusted platform evaporated and it will be right to say the PDP left us.

Then becoming apparent, President Goodluck Jonathan urged me on when I came to support him for governorship, he said ‘no, come in. You can’t support me from outside to be better. You are in. And I got in about 2004, 2005.’ That PDP has since been killed and since been buried.

Who are those responsible?

Whatever is left of the PDP or whatever may be left of the PDP after all the shenanigans clearly cannot be the PDP that I saw, nor the PDP that Nigerians entrusted with power.

Three Presidents were elected back-to-back on the platform. President Olusegun Obasanjo laying the foundation of Nigerian democracy and multi-party democracy for eight years. President Umaru Yar’adua elected unanimously and massively, unfortunately, he died along the way and President Jonathan took over, completed that tenure and in 2011 won election on his own merits and the entirety of Nigerian voters, that was the PDP that was attractive.

Now the shenanigans that are taking place and please, I’m not here to talk about the roles individuals have played because there are many, varied and enough blames to go around. Okay. Some have clearly played a more prominent role than others but, you see what has happened is that one of Nigeria’s most iconic political brands has been destroyed right before our eyes.

What they have done to the PDP is like committing infanticide. A child entrusted to you. For you to take care of the governors and the other leaders by their negligence, by their incapacity to solve these problems by elevating personal ambition and personal benefits or whatever they fought with it.

They couldn’t solve these problems to save PDP and I’m very sad about it. It’s not a happy announcement that I made on that day when I was painfully saying I had to, I had no option.

We stayed up until now believing that we could still save the PDP because of its iconic brand, its historic contributions to Nigeria’s democracy and the respect we need to give to those great democrats who founded this platform. Coming from what I do, you know what the PDP means to us? An umbrella for all Nigerians.

How terrible is it that the big Generals like Gusau and Babangidas of this world are not able to rescue that ship that sank so deeply?

It’s very sad and that’s why I say I don’t want us to talk about those who should have done something but did not, and those who played an active role in bringing about the destruction of one of the most iconic political brands of our country.

So, it took a long time to make a decision to exit because you thought that you people could rescue it, otherwise you would have left?

Since I left governorship for example, I took a backseat as my nature, no interference in governance, even in political matters, but being available.

We thought you were going to follow your successor in office when he decided to move to the APC. Did he consult you?

I said it at that time to be fair to him. You know, people like me don’t tell lies. He consulted me not once, but twice and each time my answer was clear.

I did not see a reason for leaving at that time because I thought there was still a chance and, you know. Even at that time, he was chairman of the Zoning Committee and even so, we were making plans for a convention.

That convention should have been held in an inclusive sense, not a factionalized convention that later went to Ibadan, as it turned out to be very sad. It could have all been avoided. You see, most of these guys don’t know that being in a large party doesn’t mean that everybody must agree with you. No. You could have tendencies even within a party.

So up until that time, there were chances that you could rescue the party. For example, if we had acceded or people had acceded to the idea of a caretaker committee, set up before the convention or merely passed as a result of a resolution of the convention. You may not be where you are. Maybe details have been worked out. Yes but, politics is give and take.

So, at that time, I thought, and for good reasons, there was still a window that through which we would salvage the party and I was also serving as a member of a committee chaired by Seriake to look into and reconcile the differences, and we were trying our best, and others were also working as it was important for all those options to be exhausted.

Don’t forget, I’m a reconciler, a consensus builder and one who has been appointed by five different National Chairmen of PDP to chair the National PDP Reconciliation Committee.

So, there’s nothing you tell me about PDP in any state that I don’t know. I know the weaknesses and strengths.

But was the particular crisis beyond you?

No. The solution was very clear, easy.

What was the solution?

Look, people just needed to understand that politics is the art of consensus building. It’s not always that you must insist that you will have your way on the high road or the highway.

That’s exactly what unfortunately happened for the PDP. So, one party, one part of the one faction is not agreeing to co-exist and the other one is also not ready concede.

People must agree to be reasonable and you can do so when you, for example place the interest of the PDP, the interest of our democracy and the interest of Nigeria’s stability before your personal ambitions. For example, why should anyone in PDP think that PDP must be a clone of the APC?

Is that what it’s looking like?

Like I said, I’m here to talk about the larger issues of democracy and particularly the NDC that I not only joined, that I midwifed the forming. You know, I don’t want to dwell and spend much time on what has already gone back.

Did you consult former President Jonathan?

I don’t want President Jonathan’s name to be brought into this conversation. The reason is I’m not his spokesman.

But you are his friend?

He is my boss. Because I know your relationship with former President Jonathan. So now leaving the PDP, a party that all of you had put your hand and sacrificed for. I imagine for some reasons that you will have consulted with him?

Well, let me tell you, I hold consultations and meetings with leaders of all categories and one of the reasons people confide in me and discuss honestly and frankly with me is because they know that I’m not also fluent and in this game we must respect that. Okay?

Without saying the details, what I want to say is this, President Jonathan, while I’m not his spokesman, must be very sad. I know that if I am sad haven’t been this attached to the PDP, you can imagine how sad he will be.

Having been Nigeria’s Vice President, Governor, Deputy Governor, Vice President, President of Nigeria on one platform and right before your eyes, that platform is evaporating.

Like I said, either for me or President Jonathan or for any other person now it won’t be correct to say that we are leaving PDP or I have left the PDP rather unfortunately the PDP has left us; has left me because the platform has evaporated and ceased to exist.

Now where is the National Secretariat that is under lock and key? For how long? We said National Chairman. This is caretaker appointed by who? So those are the issues and for me I am very clear. I don’t want to be part of a PDP that does not represent the essential nature and character of the PDP that was attractive to me.

The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC). What does it stand for?

It is the only credible and viable, legal, young and clean political platform formed by a lot of other Nigerians from all states of Nigeria who are here and by the way, to set up a political party, the regulation says you must have officers from 24, 25 states. The same thing as with what you need to win a presidential election.

So that’s what we have. We have presence in all states. We have presence in every local government. We have presence in the wards and Nigerians are registering en-masse. I want to use this opportunity to appreciate and commend Nigerians for the trust and confidence in us.

This is a platform that is only just about a month old. Take your mind back to 2013, 2014, when APC was formed. Even when they had governors, if without any governor, NDC Nigeria Democratic Congress is making this much wave and impact and Nigerians are seeing us and will increasingly see us as the days and weeks go by as the only viable, clean alternative platform for the opposition.

Bringing up a new political party, many Nigerians will barely see it as a mainstream political force. Is it not too late to make it a mainstream political party?

Listen, we have been builders. I’ve been building politically and I am a builder. There are categories of politicians. Appointment politicians are business people or civil servants or whatever they are doing in life. No experience as to building and managing human beings, and harnessing human resources for political victory.

They don’t have that background. You appoint them, they become leaders, ministers, commissioners and all kinds of things. They could have money but no experience in managing, identifying, head hunting and building. There are others. The second category, election contestant politicians.

They have no knowledge about how platforms are built and assembled and how political power is crafted. They come to contest. If they win, they become bosses. They are driving on sirens and people say, Your Excellency.

They don’t know how that has taken place. The third category, that’s where people like us belong and we are not too many. Those are builders of political platforms and if you have the kind of experience that I have had from 1998, first working under the late MD Yusuf when he formed the MDJ – Movement for Democracy and Justice.

I think Dr Tunji Abayomi is still alive. From there gravitated to the Alliance for Democracy as a pioneer state chairman in Bayelsa and produced a senator.

Twice produced House of assembly members. Organising my people in the job platforms and they became Attorney General.

Elected twice into the House of Reps, elected twice as governor, elected twice as senator. You are dealing with someone who understands the art of organising human beings. Winning governorship for my successor in opposition. So, you can call me serial organiser.