ABUJA: Former Bayelsa State Governor and serving senator, Seriake Dickson, has criticized President Bola Tinubu for what he describes as a military-style suppression of democracy in Rivers State.
Speaking after a joint session of the National Assembly during Democracy Day, Dickson condemned the emergency rule imposed on May 18, 2025, which saw the suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy Prof. Ngozi Odu, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly led by Martin Amaewhule.
Democracy should inspire hope, not fear. What we witnessed in the Senate was the exact opposite, Dickson said, referencing President Tinubu’s communication to the Senate on Rivers State, read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
Dickson claimed his constitutional right to raise a point of order was deliberately silenced and warned that such suppression mirrors military dictatorship, not democratic governance.
Despite delivering a well-crafted Democracy Day speech, Dickson faulted Tinubu’s failure to mention the Rivers crisis, calling it a constitutional aberration. You can’t preach democracy and practice autocracy, he said.
Why read this communication on Democracy Day if not to send a chilling message about federal overreach?
The senator emphasized that his criticism wasn’t partisan but rooted in constitutional fidelity and democratic preservation. He warned that if unchecked, Rivers could become a testing ground for future constitutional violations in other states like Lagos or Kano.
If Rivers can be treated this way today, what stops Lagos or Kano from facing the same fate tomorrow? he asked.
Dickson also referenced the 2023 general elections in Lagos, calling them a precedent of state-backed political repression.
The senator urged Nigerians across ethnic and political lines to defend democracy: his is not about Fubara. It’s about the people, the Constitution, and the legacy of June 12.
He concluded by invoking the memory of June 12, Nigeria’s symbolic democracy day honoring the 1993 election struggles, warning that recent actions risk betraying the essence of that legacy.
