By peterside Rejoice Eneky
Senator Seriake Dickson, representing Bayelsa West Senatorial District, has strongly criticised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for what he described as a failure to restore democratic governance in Rivers State.
Senator Dickson, a former Governor of Bayelsa State, voiced his disapproval during a media interaction shortly after President Tinubu’s address to a joint session of the National Assembly to commemorate Nigeria’s Democracy Day and 26 years of uninterrupted civil rule.
His comments came in response to the President’s March 18 directive suspending Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Mrs Ngozi Odu, and all elected members of the Rivers State House of Assembly for a period of six months.
Alongside this move, Tinubu appointed retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ette Ibas as the state’s interim administrator a decision widely criticised by opposition lawmakers and civil society groups.
During the Democracy Day address, President Tinubu failed to make any reference to the situation in Rivers, a development that Senator Dickson described as deeply troubling and a betrayal of democratic values.
“Let me start by saying Happy Democracy Day to all Nigerians even though one might ask: are we truly happy?” the visibly upset senator asked. “Democracy is supposed to inspire hope, but what we saw today in the Senate was a direct assault on that hope.”
Dickson labelled the President’s decision to impose what he views as emergency rule in a PDP controlled state as a “forceful takeover,” saying it contradicted the very principles of democracy the country was celebrating.
He criticised the Senate President for using the symbolic occasion of Democracy Day to read what he called “undemocratic” communications from the presidency including appointments into positions that should be filled through democratic processes.
“And today, it was very annoying that the Senate President chose today, Democracy Day of all days, to read the President’s own democratic communication to the National Assembly, making appointments into democratic institutions in Rivers State, when today we expected that he should announce the restoration of democracy,” Dickson lamented.
According to him, President Tinubu’s actions suggest an attempt to create a one-party state in Nigeria, despite public claims to the contrary.
“The President has said he is not working for a one-party state well and good but all the body language and all the strategies of the President and his party are indicative of the fact that they want a Nigeria of sycophants,” he said. “They want a Nigeria of people who say yes to everything. And the National Assembly cannot be that.”
Dickson warned that weakening legislative independence through executive overreach spells danger for Nigeria’s democratic future.
“The National Assembly, the President of the Senate, and the President of the Federal Republic need to know that once you’ve caged the National Assembly, you have caged democracy,” he added.
He concluded his remarks with a call for urgent action: “The best way to show that the President is committed to democracy is to respect the rights of everybody to free speech and free participation and most importantly, restore as quickly as possible democratic rule in Rivers State that was unjustifiably taken away.”
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