The National Leader of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Senator Seriake Dickson, has dismissed insinuations that the party is a proxy of the ruling All Progressives Congress.
Dickson, who represents Bayelsa West Senatorial District, said this in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday.
The former Bayelsa governor also defended the legitimacy and independence of the newly-registered political party, saying there was no legal dispute over its registration.
Speaking amid the growing political speculation, the former Bayelsa State governor said the party’s registration by the Independent National Electoral Commission followed due process and compliance with a court order.
He said, “There’s no litigation against NDC registration. INEC has already implemented the court order and cannot reverse it.”
Dickson rejected claims that either INEC or the ruling APC was seeking to challenge the party in court, describing such assertions as baseless.
The NDC national leader pushed back strongly against narratives suggesting that the party was created to weaken opposition forces.
“I’m used to this kind of bullying tactics. I am not someone who is swayed by propaganda and blackmail,” he said.
The senator described NDC as an ideological platform established to bring together Nigerians who shared similar democratic values.
“It remains open to engagement with other political groups, but it is not aligned with any existing party,” he said.
While emphasising the constitutional right to political association, he said: “No one can blackmail or bully me or any other Nigerian to belong to a party or form a party or take one view or the other.”
Addressing calls in some quarters for him and his supporters to align with other opposition platforms, such as the African Democratic Congress or the Labour Party, Dickson insisted that Nigerians must be allowed to make independent political choices.
“Democracy means you have the right and the freedom to be in the ADC, to be in the APC; to be in the Labour Party, and thousands of Nigerians also have the right to be in the NDC,” he said.