Former Bayelsa State Governor and Senator Seriake Dickson has taken a derisive stance against the African Democratic Congress (ADC), questioning its ideological direction and describing it as a coalition of former All Progressives Congress founders whose defection highlights the failure of the APC project.
Dickson, who recently exited the Peoples Democratic Party for the Nigeria Democratic Congress, made the remarks during an interview on AIT Focus Nigeria on Monday, where he argued that many of the key actors in the ADC were once central to the formation of the APC.
“Those leaders in the ADC, a number of them were those who actually formed the APC. They were the ones who led the charge to remove the PDP — if they all now agree that the party they formed has failed Nigerians, which is the APC, because that you see all of them now coalescing in the ADC in ways and manners that sometimes are not clear, that is a statement of the failure of the experiment that they started, which is the APC,” he said.
While acknowledging the influence of the individuals involved and admitting that their movement could help prevent a one-party dominance, Dickson insisted the ADC lacks a coherent political philosophy.
“I am not convinced of the ideological stand of the ADC. Beyond a coalition of names and former chieftains of the APC now disagreeing with their party and the government of the party, if you’re congregating as they did in 2014, it takes more than a congregation of names to have a government that will have meaning; to have a party that has a clear vision and agenda,” he said.
He further described the party’s structure as lacking clear direction, saying he remains unconvinced about its stance on key national issues.
“For me, while that is good because at least it pulls us away from a one-party state and I commend them for that, and I look forward to a healthy collaboration on ideological issues, there is ideological vacuity. I am not convinced of where they stand on issues that are important to me and to the country,” he stated.
Dickson, however, exempted David Mark, the ADC National Chairman, from his criticism, describing him as “a very respectable Nigerian statesman.”
