Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, former Governor of Bayelsa State, has defected from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the newly registered Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC.

Dickson identified himself as the founder and National Leader of the NDC.

Dickson, in a statement declared: "Today, I formally notified the Senate of my change of party affiliation from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), a party of which I am the Founder and National Leader.

"The party is recording tremendous success across the country, and I wish to commend Nigerians for their solidarity, support, and the confidence reposed in us. I also commend our state and national officials for the work they are doing, and I urge them to keep up the fight for a multiparty democracy in Nigeria.

"I call on the public to continue to register en masse to enable us comply with the requirements, which we are confident of meeting despite the shortness of time. All political parties are currently carrying out their membership registrations, and we are determined to also meet the requirements, as the law does not stipulate a minimum number of registered party members. We are even recording successes far beyond our expectations for a political party that is barely two weeks old.

"I, therefore, invite all like-minded persons, those who are dissatisfied in their parties, professionals, politicians and Nigerians who are dissatisfied with the system, as well as those whose associations were not registered, to join us in building a viable and credible political party.

"Again, I thank Nigerians for their support and confidence, and I urge all to register across the country.

"The NDC is for us all. -HSD."