. 18 lawmakers move to initiate impeachment proceedings against Ewhrujakpo at next sitting
…as Senator Dickson condemns Gov’s decision to dump PDP
The stage appears to have been set for a political crisis in Bayelsa as the State’s Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo
risks being impeached by the House of Assembly for refusing to defect to the All Progressives Congress alongside his principal, Governor Douye Diri.
This is just as the Senator representing Bayelsa West, Seriake Dickson, also rejected the defection of Governor Diri to the APC.
Both Ewhrudjakpo and Dickson alongside other stalwarts of the Peoples Democratic Party have maintained that the party remains the biggest opposition force in the country and still strong enough in the oil-rich state to make defection unnecessary.
However, it was gathered that the 18 members of the State House of Assembly, who resigned from the PDP alongside Diri, are planning to initiate impeachment proceedings against the Deputy Governor for refusing to defect with the Governor.
The lawmakers, it was learnt intend to describe Ewhrudjakpo’s refusal to defect as gross misconduct and an impeachable offence, adding that nothing would prevent them from proceeding with impeachment at their next sitting.
“We expect that the State Assembly will victimise him for his choice. If he’s victimised for remaining in the PDP, he will have no choice but to do the needful,” a source added.
Governor Diri, who announced his resignation from PDP through his spokesman, Daniel Alabrah, did not provide details or reasons for his defection.
Allies of the two PDP leaders, who spoke to journalists in separate interviews, said there was no justification for any PDP leader or member to leave the party that had brought them political prominence.
“The Deputy Governor, Ewhrudjakpo, and one of our leaders, Seriake Dickson, including other former lawmakers in our party, are still with the PDP — we’re going nowhere,” said a PDP stalwart in the state, who pleaded anonymity.
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It was learnt that the Deputy Governor shunned the State Executive Council meeting where Diri announced his resignation from the PDP, although he has yet to declare his next political move.
According to a source, “Earlier this morning, Diri presided over the SEC meeting, but the deputy governor refused to attend. He didn’t attend because he’s not defecting alongside the governor.”
Diri and Ewhrudjakpo were elected on a joint PDP ticket in 2019 and assumed office in 2020. They were re-elected on the same platform in 2023.
Ewhrudjakpo, a lawyer and seasoned politician, served as the Senator representing Bayelsa West Senatorial District between 2019 and 2020 in the 9th National Assembly. He has also held various leadership positions, including Chairman of the Nigerian International Coastal Border Platform, which focuses on harmonising maritime laws and combating piracy and other maritime-related crimes.
Meanwhile, Senator Seriake Dickson has condemned the wave of defections into the ruling APC.
Speaking with reporters at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja after plenary on Wednesday, Dickson reaffirmed his commitment to PDP, saying that the Governors defecting were making a mockery of democracy.
Reacting to Diri’s defection, Dickson said, “I am where I have always been. I don’t believe Nigeria should become a one-party state. As a democrat, I understand the ups and downs of the process, but I remain constant and steadfast in the PDP.
“It’s sad. Instead of fixing the problems, they let the crisis fester and now they are bailing out. It makes Nigeria look small, ridicules our democracy, and endangers multiparty politics. What we are witnessing is political class suicide.
“To his credit, he consulted me, but I didn’t see any compelling reason to defect. I’m still standing where I have always stood — with the PDP, the party that gave my people the opportunity to produce a Vice President, an Acting President, and a President of the Federal Republic. The APC cannot offer that.
“If we fail to save the PDP, then we will decide collectively on the next step, but it certainly should not be joining the APC. A democracy without opposition becomes a dictatorship.”