Dickson: PDP Left Me, Not My Exit

Former Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson has asserted that he and other politicians are not leaving Nigeria’s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but rather that the party has fundamentally changed, leaving them behind.

Speaking on Politics Today on Channels Television, Dickson expressed profound disappointment in the party’s current state, stating it no longer resembles the dominant national platform that governed Nigeria for 16 years. “It is not fair to say that I and others who are leaving now have left the PDP. It will be more appropriate to say that the PDP left me. PDP left us,” he remarked.

The former governor, who once served as the PDP’s National Legal Adviser, described the party he joined in the early 2000s as having “gradually lost its original ideals and structure.” He emphasized that the transformation was not a voluntary exit but a dissolution of the trusted platform they once knew. “The PDP as I knew it… that PDP has since been killed and buried,” Dickson said, adding that whatever remains “cannot be the PDP Nigerians entrusted with power.”

Dickson recalled the PDP’s historical electoral strength, noting it produced three consecutive presidents: Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Yar’Adua, and Goodluck Jonathan. “That was the PDP that was attractive,” he stated, highlighting the party’s past ability to unite Nigerians and command widespread support.

His comments reflect a broader narrative of internal disillusionment within the PDP, once Africa’s most powerful political party. The party’s decline accelerated after losing the 2015 election and has been marred by internal crises, defections, and legal battles. Dickson’s framed departure—as a rejection of a party that no longer exists—underscores the depth of ideological and structural shifts within the opposition.

Analysts note that such public resignations by senior figures weaken the PDP’s cohesion as it prepares for future elections. While Dickson did not specify his next political move, his critique points to a party struggling to redefine itself amid Nigeria’s competitive political landscape. The significance of his statement lies in its symbolic weight: a long-standing member declaring the original PDP defunct signals ongoing challenges in rebuilding a credible national alternative to the ruling All Progressives Congress.