The African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Rivers State has been plunged into controversy following its gubernatorial primary election, which saw former Secretary to the Rivers State Government, Dr. Gabriel Pidomson, declared as the winner. Pidomson's emergence, while affirmed by the party's Primary Election Committee, has been vehemently rejected by one of the aspirants, Dr. Allen Idaso Ezekiel-Hart, who described the exercise as a "shambolic charade" allegedly orchestrated by former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi.

According to the official announcement by Carol Obaro, Chairman of the ADC Primary Election Committee, Pidomson secured 112,086 votes in the primary, which was conducted across the 23 local government areas of the state. The results, collated at the party's secretariat in Port Harcourt on Saturday night, showed Sokonte Davies in second place with 16,872 votes, followed by former Peoples Democratic Party governorship aspirant, Farah Dagogo, with 2,369 votes. Other contenders included Leloonu Nwibubasa (1,476 votes), Allen Ezekiel Hart (268 votes), and Henry Ogbonna (546 votes). Obaro declared Pidomson the winner, stating he had satisfied all constitutional and party requirements by securing the highest number of valid votes.

However, Dr. Allen Idaso Ezekiel-Hart, addressing journalists in Abuja, flatly rejected the outcome, alleging that Amaechi's high-handedness led to the imposition of a preferred candidate. Ezekiel-Hart claimed the primary produced three different governorship candidates for the ADC in Rivers State, warning of an impending crisis for the party ahead of the 2027 elections if the national leadership fails to intervene. He stated, “Right now, we have three governorship candidates in one party, all thanks to Amaechi’s high-handedness.”

Ezekiel-Hart further alleged that the primary election's timing was manipulated. Contrary to the party’s official timetable, which fixed May 23 for the governorship primary, aspirants were suddenly informed late Friday that the exercise had been moved forward. While he was mobilizing supporters, he learned from fellow aspirant Farah Dagogo that a parallel process had already been conducted without his knowledge. Ezekiel-Hart accused the state party chairman, Chief Chukwudi Dimkpa, of selectively inviting only five aspirants believed to be loyal to Amaechi, excluding himself and Dagogo, describing the process as a "kangaroo arrangement" designed to favor Gabriel P. Thompson (Pidomson), whom he claimed was Amaechi’s long-positioned preferred candidate. He also mentioned that three aspirants were allegedly persuaded to step down for Thompson in a disguised consensus arrangement, despite the party’s public stance against consensus candidates.

Dagogo's role also came under scrutiny, as Ezekiel-Hart claimed Dagogo approached him with a proposal to jointly resist "Amaechi’s camp." However, Dagogo allegedly then asked Ezekiel-Hart to publicly congratulate him as the winner, invoking Atiku Abubakar's name to suggest unity. Ezekiel-Hart rejected this, stating, “He told me to go on air and congratulate him, saying we are from Atiku Abubakar’s political family and should unite. I told him to stop rubbishing Atiku’s name. Atiku will not be part of this nonsense.” Ezekiel-Hart further alleged that Dagogo offered him political compensation, including a possible appointment as Secretary to the State Government, in exchange for endorsing his self-declared victory.

Rejecting Dagogo's offer, Ezekiel-Hart declared himself the winner after Dagogo made a similar public declaration. He lamented the situation, stating, “As it stands, Farah declared himself winner, Thompson was declared winner by the state exco, and I also declared myself winner. Three winners in one primary that never held. This cannot stand.” He accused the Rivers ADC leadership of systematically sidelining him despite being, according to him, the only aspirant who formally notified the party in writing of his intention to contest. Ezekiel-Hart also criticized Amaechi, querying how someone demanding transparent presidential primaries could impose a governorship candidate in Rivers and accused him of failing to account for his political role in the 2015 presidential transition.

Ezekiel-Hart called on the ADC National Working Committee (NWC) to immediately nullify the disputed exercise and either conduct a fresh primary or adopt a consensus arrangement in line with the Independent National Electoral Commission's electoral timetable. He warned Dagogo against repeatedly invoking Atiku’s name to bolster his claim, asserting, “Atiku is father to all of us; nobody should claim he is imposing any candidate here.” Despite his strong objections, Ezekiel-Hart pledged to pursue all grievances strictly within the framework of the party constitution, vowing to exhaust every legal channel within the party, while insisting that the party must recognize his victory in the primaries.

Prior to the primary, seven aspirants had initially expressed interest in the governorship ticket. A meeting held on Friday reportedly involved six of these aspirants (Ezekiel-Hart was absent) to consider a consensus arrangement. During this meeting, two aspirants reportedly agreed to step down in favor of Gabriel Pidomson, while others rejected the idea, insisting on a full primary election. Pidomson, an Ogoni indigene from Gokana Local Government Area, previously represented Gokana Constituency in the Rivers State House of Assembly (2003-2007) and served as Secretary to the Rivers State Government from June to October 2007 under Sir Celestine Omehia's administration.