Timi Frank, former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), praised former Bayelsa State Governor Senator Henry Seriake Dickson for opposing President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s anti-democratic acts.
Dickson criticized the current administration’s anti-democratic policies, particularly in Rivers State, following President Tinubu’s State of the Nation Address to the National Assembly on Thursday..
Dickson blasted Tinubu for failing to mention the state of emergency he declared in Rivers State, as well as the suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara and all members of the State House of Assembly since March 2025.
Frank praised Dickson for highlighting the irony of Democracy Day being celebrated with hoopla by the president and legislature, while a state in the country is under military authority.
He praised Dickson as a hero and a contemporary protector of democracy in the country for bravely confronting Tinubu’s democratic aberration in Rivers State.
According to him, Dickson would be remembered for his moral stand against Tinubu’s undemocratic tendencies.
Frank remarked that the APC and Tinubu’s government value impunity, authoritarianism, and a one-party state over democracy and the rule of law.
He stated that “Senator Dickson played the role of a true opposition by speaking on behalf of ordinary Nigerians.” He made me proud not only as a Nigerian citizen, but also as an Ijaw son.
“He made me proud to be a Bayelsan. He has made me proud as a Niger Delta son, as well as the entire country, by speaking truth to power about people who are undermining our democracy and country.
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“He spoke the truth at a time when so many politicians across party lines in Nigeria had become political cowards and sycophants; he came out bravely to express the truth.
“History will remember him for his moral stand against Tinubu’s undemocratic tendencies.
“History will never forget him because, when Nigerians expected leaders, particularly those in government, to speak the truth, he was the only one who confronted the reality and the true state of our democracy.
“What Dickson has done is akin to what lawmakers often do in foreign countries where democracy is being practiced, like the United States and the United Kingdom and even South Africa, where you see lawmakers confronting the president with the truth and expectation of the people.” It may appear that he is alone, but we want him to know that the Nigerian people stand with him.
“Even if his colleagues across party lines may not support him due to cowardice in his bid to save our democracy, Nigerians and the world are with him, and we are encouraging him to do more by being fearless as usual.”
Frank further said that other members of the National Assembly were aware during the joint session that Tinubu’s address was heavily laden with propaganda and deception, but continued to praise the president out of sycophancy.
He continued, “We know that with what Dickson has done, there may be plans to suspend him in the same way that the Senate has suspended other senators who have stood up for the truth in the past, but he need not be concerned because God and Nigerians will fight for him.
“For it is preferable for him to stand with God and the majority of the people than to side with the evil and satanic leaders who are destroying Nigeria’s democracy.
“It is shameful that the minority caucus in the Senate has been totally compromised because if there was a strong opposition, the minority leader of the Senate would have been supposed to have taken the action that Dickson took” .
