By Osaretin Osadebamwen
Senator Seriake Dickson, National Leader of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) and former Governor of Bayelsa State, has declared that the Alliance for Democracy (AD) taught its members how to be strong in their positions, while accusing the All Progressives Congress (APC) of never truly believing in true federalism.
Senator Dickson made these remarks during the Epochal Homecoming Reunion of the Old Guard Alliance for Democracy, hosted under the aegis of the National Democratic Congress at his residence. The event, themed “Reclaiming Our Moral Mandate: A National Democratic Conversation for a Reborn Polity,” brought together surviving leaders and ideologues of the AD to reflect on the party’s foundational principles and chart a path forward for Nigeria’s democracy.
The former Governor, who served as the Chief Host of the gathering, took his audience on a nostalgic journey through the early days of Nigeria’s current democratic dispensation, recounting the sacrifices, ideological commitment, and financial struggles that defined the AD’s emergence as a formidable political force.
Recalling the party’s historic performance in the 1998-99 transition elections, Senator Dickson proudly declared that the AD won all six states in the Southwest, proving that ideology and commitment could triumph over money politics.
“Elections were conducted, for example, in the entire Southwest, and we won all six states. We won the majority in the local government elections, which led us to being registered,” Senator Dickson said.
He contrasted that era with the current political environment where votes are allegedly being bought and sold, lamenting that money had replaced ideology as the currency of politics.
“We hear that votes are being paid for — ₦20,000, ₦10,000, ₦30,000. That was not the environment under which we operated. We all know that,” he stated.
The Senator drew a sharp distinction between the AD’s ideological foundation and what he described as the APC’s opportunistic adoption of federalism rhetoric.
“My dear, we were the people who talked about true federalism. Those are A.D. concepts. They don’t belong to PDP or APP or even the APC. If they had ever believed in true federalism, they would have mentioned it,” Senator Dickson declared.
He accused the APC of hypocrisy, alleging that the party only included true federalism in its constitution to deceive Nigerians.
“Even when our colleagues went to join and form the APC, they mentioned it in their constitution. It was to deceive Nigerians,” he said.
Senator Dickson further emphasised that the AD’s influence extended far beyond the Southwest, recalling how he took the party’s ideals to Bayelsa State and built a formidable structure from scratch.
“So anytime you hear ‘true federalism,’ even the idea of a restructured Nigeria, a constitutional democracy, respect for the control and equity in the allocation of resources, environmental justice — these are all things that we talked about, and those are the things that brought us to Alliance for Democracy (AD),” he explained.
Reflecting on the personal sacrifices required to build the party, Senator Dickson recounted how he had to pledge his chequebook to pay nomination fees for State Assembly candidates because neither he nor the candidates had cash.
“When we were going for the State Assembly elections, I had to pledge with my chequebook to pay for the assembly candidates’ nomination fees. I did not have the cash there. The candidates had no money,” he said.
The former Governor recalled how he personally rented an office in Bayelsa as a practising lawyer and set up the party’s structures to confront the APP and PDP.
“The only donation when we were going for local government council elections to determine eligibility came after the local government elections. What we managed to get was ₦60,000 to support AD.,” he revealed.
Senator Dickson praised the selflessness of the party’s founding leaders, singling out Chief Obi Lulubriggs, who he said gave him the first donation of ₦50,000 in 1998-99 to support the party’s activities in the South-South.
“Yes, we had very selfless, committed leaders. He was the one who gave me the first donation of ₦50,000 at that time, in 1998-99,” he said.
The Senator also shared a humorous experience about wooing Senator Tifa, a businessman who eventually became a senator, despite opposition from his late wife.
“In fact, the man I wooed, who eventually ended up as Senator — I have wooed a number of ladies but I have never wooed a woman the way I wooed Senator Tifa. He did not want to. In fact, his late wife used to fight me for daring to politicise her husband. She was enjoying the peace that came with being married to a businessman who was doing well,” he recounted.
“I kept going to their house. The woman would be pursuing me. I kept insisting he would win. I had done my calculations. But when we eventually got his consent and marketed him, he won and became a senator,” Senator Dickson added.
The former Governor credited the AD experience with equipping him with the resilience and organizational skills that have sustained his political journey.
“The Alliance for Democracy (AD) had taught us, all of us, how to be in a position that there is nothing you gain from it. It taught us how to organise people, manage people, and it made us to be strong in our positions,” he said.
Senator Dickson contrasted AD’s ideologically driven politics with the transactional approach of many modern politicians who cannot function outside a party in power.
“And we do not start from government. We start from the people, to stand out. I am glad we see there are some people who, all their political lives, it has always been government party, the party in power. So any government in power, they choose. They cannot play their politics outside a party that is in power. So they reason and act like civil servants, but we are not politicians,” he declared.
“If we support what you do, we say we are supporting you. If we disagree with what you do as politicians, we speak against you. We organise against you. That is the calling of a politician. We will not keep quiet and end our members with a flag. Politicians are different,” Senator Dickson added.
He praised the generation of political leaders who formed the AD and even the PDP, describing them as distinguished, honourable, and patriotic leaders whose views were not influenced by money.
“We are lucky that we interacted with that generation, a distinguished generation of political leaders whose views were not influenced by money, who were after values, and who were patriotic, my dear friends.
They had it even in all the parties. Even the people who formed the PDP at that time were very distinguished political leaders the country had. Very distinguished, honourable, patriotic political leaders,” the former governor of Bayelsa said.
Senator Dickson also paid tribute to the late General Abdulsalami Abubakar, commending him for engineering a transition that produced Nigeria’s first elected president of the current dispensation from the South.
“The sitting Head of State and they still deserve commendation. They could have gone anywhere to put whoever, as people do, but General Abdulsalami Abubakar didn’t. That engineered transition in a way to produce the elected president of this dispensation, the first one from the South,” he noted.
The Senator observed that the AD’s political ideology had shaped his decision to leave the party when it deviated from its founding principles, recounting how he confronted the then Attorney General of the Federation late Bola Ige over issues affecting the Niger Delta.
“So I told him, I said, ‘No. With this thing you people have done, when Oga, you are here as Attorney General of the Federation, I cannot go back to my people to justify my continued membership of the Alliance for Democracy again.’ So, no. I had to leave at that point,” he said.
Despite leaving the AD, Senator Dickson maintained that the party’s ideals remained central to his political philosophy, even as he joined the ANPP and later pursued other political paths.
“I went to join to strengthen the ANPP instead. The AD in Bayelsa now moved majority to ANPP, where I ran and prepared to run for the governorship in 2003 against Alamieyeseigha and Jonathan’s ticket,” he recalled.
The former Governor said the AD experience had given him the confidence to stand for what he believes in, regardless of the political consequences.
“So it was a long way, a long, long way. And like you all, we are grateful for the time we spent in AD, the mentorship we received, the guidance we received, the experiences we gained, and the memories we still share with each other,” Senator Dickson said.
He described the reunion as an opportunity to go “down memory lane” and to collectively work towards deepening Nigeria’s multi-party democracy.
“And today is also about these stories, going down memory lane. And I am not the only one that has stories to tell. Each one of you has a story to tell about the AD people. And now, collectively, we live and work to promote and deepen Nigerians’ multi-party democracy,” he said.
Senator Dickson expressed gratitude for the mentorship and guidance he received during his AD days, which he credited for enabling him to stand out in his political journey.
“I believe, to a large extent, apart from the grace of God, what has also enabled me in my political journey is the experience and the mentorship I got,” he concluded.
The event, which featured a minute of silence for departed AD leaders including Abraham Adesanya, Chief Bola Ige, and Baba Yaya Abadja, was described as a deliberate act of political reclamation rather than mere nostalgia.
According to the event’s concept note, the convocation proceeds from the conviction that “the Alliance for Democracy as the apotheosis of the pro-democracy struggle of the Fourth Republic retains an unextinguished moral guardianship over the Nigerian project.”
The gathering aims to “interrogate the present democratic dispensation, and seize the historic moment to proffer strategic direction toward credible, people centred and electorally sustainable outcomes.”
As the reunion concluded, Senator Dickson urged his colleagues to move “from commentary to construction, from lamentation to leadership,” reaffirming the AD’s enduring legacy in Nigeria’s democratic journey.
He said the convocation is designed to make them recall all the experience they have acquired to rebuild this political dispensation.
