Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, has lauded the Senator representing Bayelsa West, Henry Seriake Dickson, on speaking truth to power by condemning the anti-democratic actions of the President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Dickson had shortly after President Tinubu delivered his State of the Nation Address before a joint session of the National Assembly to commemorate 26 years of uninterrupted democratic governance in the country on Thursday, kicked against the anti-democratic posture of the present administration.
Addressing the press at the National Assembly, Dickson, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), slammed Tinubu for not mentioning the state of emergency he imposed on Rivers State and the arbitrary suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara and all members of the State House of Assembly for six months.
He also accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of suppression for not allowing his point of order earlier in the Senate Chamber before the joint sitting session where he moved to complain about letters from the Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, seeking Senate’s confirmation of nominees for appointment into the State Electoral Commission as well as Civil and Local Government Service Commissions of Rivers State.
He commended Dickson for his patriotism and courage in pointing out the irony in the Democracy Day celebration with fanfare by the executive and legislature while a state in the country was under military rule.
He described Dickson as a hero and present-day defender of democracy in the country by courageously opposing the democratic aberration in Rivers State imposed by Tinubu.
Frank said: “Senator Dickson played the role of a true opposition by speaking the minds of ordinary Nigerians. He did not just make me proud as a citizen of Nigeria, he has made me proud as an Ijaw son.
“He has made me proud as a Bayelsan. He has made me proud as a Niger Delta son and he has made the entire country proud by speaking truth to power against those destroying our democracy and the country.
“He spoke the truth at a time when so many politicians cutting across party divides in Nigeria have become political cowards and sycophants, he came out boldly to speak the truth.
“Posterity will remember him for his principled stance in condemning undemocratic tendencies of he of the Tinubu administration.
“History will never forget him because when Nigerians expected leaders especially those in government to speak the truth, he’s the only one who has confronted the truth and the true position of our democracy.”
He lamented that the ruling APC and Tinubu’s government don’t believe in democracy and the rule of law, saying they believed in impunity, dictatorship and one-party state.
He added: “What Dickson has done is akin to what lawmakers often do in foreign countries where democracy is being practiced like the United States and the United Kingdom and even South Africa where you see lawmakers confronting the president with the truth and expectation of the people.
“It might look like he is alone, but we want to let him know that the Nigerian masses are with him.
“Even if his colleagues across party lines may not support him due to cowardice in his bid to save our democracy, Nigerians and the world are with him, and we are encouraging him to do more by being fearless as usual.”
He noted that other members of the National Assembly during the joint session knew that the president’s speech was highly laced with propaganda and deceit but because of sycophancy they kept singing the praises of the President.
He added: “We know that with what Dickson has done there might be plans to suspend him the way the Senate did to other senators who have stood up for the truth in the past but let him not be perturbed because God and Nigerians will fight for him.
“For it is better for him to be with God and the people who are in the majority than to take sides with the evil and satanic leaders who are working to destroy democracy in Nigeria.”
According to him, “It is shameful that the minority caucus in the Senate has been totally compromised because if there was a strong opposition, the minority leader of the Senate is supposed to have taken the action that Dickson took.
“Unfortunately, we have a compromised minority leader who is only doing the bidding of the ruling party. Since Abba Moro became the minority leader, he has not been able to condemn or criticize the anti-democratic and unconstitutional policies of government.
“Were Nigeria a country practicing true democracy, someone like Senator Dickson would have been the minority leader of the Senate in this political dispensation.”
According to him, a government that is doing well is not supposed to be forcing or intimidating people to join their political party but this is what we are witnessing in Nigeria where harassment and intimidation of the opposition has become the new state policy.
He condemned politicians who have sold their conscience, history will judge them harshly someday because they see the suffering in the land but have turned their faces away from the people because they want to be in the good books of the ruling party.
“But whether now or later, this government will go and Nigeria will remain and they too would remain to face the consequences of their action and inaction,” Frank stated.
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