2027: Pidomson and the tale of two Rivers’ ADC guber candidates

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has declared Gabriel Pidomson, a former Secretary to the Rivers State Government, as its candidate for the 2027 governorship election in the state.

Pidomson emerged as the winner in the governorship primary election conducted on Friday and Saturday, May 22 and 23 across all the 319 wards of Rivers State, using the Option A4 voting system.

In the exercise, which was supervised by the ADC National Election Committee across all the 23 Local Government Areas of the state, Pidomson polled 112,086 votes to defeat five other aspirants.

Carol Obaro, chairman of the ADC Primary Election Committee in Rivers State, announced the results at the end of the collation of votes at the party secretariat in Port Harcourt on Saturday night.

Obaro said: “Gabriel Pidomson having the highest score of 112,068 votes has satisfied the requirements of the ADC and the constitution and is hereby declared the winner of the primary election and is returned elected, as the ADC gubernatorial candidate in Rivers State this day, May 23, 2026.”

Sekonte Davies came a distant second with 16,872 votes; Farah Dagogo, a former governorship aspirant in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), scored 2,369 votes, Leloonu Nwibubasa came fourth with 1,476 votes, Henry Ogbonna got 546 votes and Allen Ezekiel Hart polled 268 votes.

Pidomson, in his acceptance speech, described his emergence as “not a personal victory, but a sacred trust handed to us by the people of Rivers State.”

He further stated that, “Today, the voice of hope has defeated fear. The voice of unity has defeated division. The voice of the people has defeated political intimidation. And the future has defeated the past.”

The ADC governorship candidate also called for unity among party members and supporters ahead of the 2027 election.

“The primaries are over; now the real assignment begins. Let us work together. We are no longer aspirants competing against one another. We are now one family marching together for the liberation and transformation of Rivers State,” he stated.

He said that his vision is for, “A Rivers State, where businesses can thrive with stable power, security, infrastructure and transparent governance. A Rivers State where healthcare works. A Rivers State where justice is timely and accessible.”

Pidomson assured his supporters that his campaign will focus on responsible leadership and people-oriented governance, and called for unity among the ADC faithful across the state.

“Our campaign will not be built on hatred. It will not be built on violence. It will not be built on bitterness. We shall run a campaign of ideas, courage, discipline and people-centered solutions.

“From the riverine communities to the upland communities, from the urban centres to the rural settlements, we shall carry everybody along. No tribe will be forgotten. No local government will be ignored. No community will be abandoned.”

Pidomson, who was Secretary to the Rivers State Government for five months between June and October 2007, has been a member of the Rivers State House of Assembly from 2003 to 2007.

A doctorate degree holder, he studied at the University of Port Harcourt, University of Warwick and University of Liverpool among others and is multi-disciplined, possessing skills including strategic planning, project management and planning among others.

It is being said among stakeholders that with his array of educational and other accomplishments in both the public and private sectors, he meets the requirements for governor of Rivers State.

However, his candidature of the ADC is facing a stern test by Farah Dagogo, who was a day earlier declared winner of another governorship primary election of the party.

Dagogo, a former member of the House of Representatives, has therefore, disagreed, insisting that he won the May 22 primaries conducted by the committee set up by the David Mark–led National Working Committee (NWC).

Pidomson won the primaries conducted by the Chukwudi Dimkpa-led state executive while Dagogo was declared winner of the primaries held on Friday by the Agu Bryan–led Rivers State Governorship Primary Electoral Committee, which the party’s National Working Committee is said to have constituted.

The division in the Rivers’ ADC highlights an alleged rift between Atiku Abubakar, former vice‑president, and Amaechi.

While declaring Dagogo the winner of the primary election, Bryan said he polled 64,700 votes in the direct primaries held across all the 319 wards of the 23 local government areas of the state.

He defeated his nearest challenger, Sokonte Davies, who received 9,050 votes.

Bryan said the primaries were conducted in line with the party’s guidelines and that, having satisfied all expected requirements, Dagogo was the winner.

In his remarks, Dagogo said after the election that the victory belonged to every member of the ADC and every Rivers State resident who believed in a better future for the state.

His main rival, Sokonte Davies, former executive director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), immediately accepted defeat and congratulated Dagogo on his victory.

Davies’ campaign team said, “Dagogo’s victory at the primaries is a testament to the trust and confidence reposed in him by the delegates of our great party. We commend his perseverance, commitment to the ideals of the ADC, and his readiness to serve the people of Rivers State.

“As members of the same political family, we recognise that the task ahead is a collective one, and we stand ready to work together for the success of the party in the 2027 general elections.

“In the same spirit of unity and national progress, Dr. Sokonte H. Davies and his supporters declare their full and unwavering support for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in his bid for the presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” they said.

There are insinuations that Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, former Minister of Transportation, unduly influenced the outcome of its governorship primaries to favour a particular Pidomson.

It was gathered that there are intra-party efforts to address the grievances as some aggrieved members are already threatening legal action.

Chukwudi Dimkpa, the ADC state chairman, has dismissed claims by Allen Idaso Ezekiel‑Hart, one of the governorship aspirants, that the party’s May 23 governorship primaries was manipulated to favour certain persons.

Ezekiel‑Hart was quoted as saying he would pursue all grievances within the party’s constitution, while warning Dagogo against invoking former Vice‑President Atiku Abubakar’s name to bolster his claim of victory at the primary election.

“We will exhaust every legal channel within the party. I will not rock the boat, but the party must recognize that I won the primaries,” he said.