ADC lacks clear ideology, says Dickson

Former Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, has questioned the ideological foundation of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), describing the opposition platform as a gathering of former ruling party figures without a clear direction.

Dickson spoke on Monday during an interview on AIT’s Focus Nigeria

He said many of the key figures now aligning with the ADC were among those who built the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He argued that their movement reflects more on the failure of that project than a new political vision.

Dickson said: “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.”

While acknowledging the stature of some ADC leaders, Dickson questioned the coherence of the coalition forming around the party.

He said: “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.”

Dickson added that although the ADC’s emergence could help counter a drift toward a one-party state, the party still lacks clarity on key national issues.

He said: “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.”

The senator, who recently left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), however singled out ADC National Chairman, David Mark, for praise, describing him as “a very respectable Nigerian statesman.”