Shock in Senate as Bayelsa Senator Joins APC, Seriake Dickson Walks Out in Protest
Sunday Aborisade in Abuja and Olusegun Samuel in Yenagoa
Drama erupted in the Senate yesterday following the defection of Senator Konbowei Benson Friday, Bayelsa Central, from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Senate President Godswill Akpabio read the senator’s letter of defection during plenary, triggering cheers and handshakes among APC senators, who jubilantly welcomed their new colleague into the fold.
In the letter read by Akpabio, the defecting Senator cited the lingering crisis rocking the PDP as the reason for his action.
There was, however, loud laughter on the floor when the defector, in the official communication, lamented that the party built by the late chiefs Alex Ekwueme and Solomon Lar, had collapsed.
The move, coming barely 24 hours after Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, announced his resignation from the PDP, further heightened stakes within the state’s ruling party.
The development also fueled speculation that Diri himself might be heading to the APC soon.
With Konbowei’s defection, the APC strength in the Red Chamber has now risen to 74 senators, giving the ruling party an overwhelming majority out of the 109-member Senate.
However, the announcement threw the Bayelsa delegation into disarray.
Former governor and senator representing Bayelsa West, Henry Seriake Dickson, visibly upset, quietly gathered his documents and exited the chamber in protest as Akpabio read the defection letter.
The Senate President, observing his exit, called out to Dickson, reminding him that as leader of the Bayelsa Caucus, he should not be absent “when such an important letter is being read.”
Unmoved, Dickson replied that he had “more important matters to attend to outside the chamber” and proceeded to leave.
Meanwhile, Akpabio and several APC senators were seen celebrating the defection, congratulating Konbowei with backslaps and smiles as he took his new seat among the majority benches.
In a related development, local government Chairmen in the state under the auspices of Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), have backed the decision of Diri to resign from the PDP.
The association made the statement at a press conference held at its Secretariat in Yenagoa, stating that they stood where the governor stood.
Speaking on behalf of the association, Chairman of Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area, Hon. Lelei Tariye Isaac gave the crisis rocking the PDP as the reason for their resignation, while thanking Bayelsans for their support for the Prosperity Government.
”We are indeed, grateful for the opportunity to serve you for the past one and half year. We were elected on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party, and today, we are aware that our leader, the governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, formally resigned his membership of the People’s Democratic Party,” he said.
