Ezekiel-Hart rejects Rivers ADC primary as three winners emerge

Accuses Amaechi of high-handedness

_______________________________________________________________________

From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja

The governorship primary of the Rivers State chapter of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) descended into chaos on Saturday after one of the aspirants, Dr Allen Ezekiel-Hart, rejected the outcome of the exercise and alleged that three separate candidates had emerged from the same primary.

Addressing journalists in Abuja, Ezekiel-Hart described the process as a “shambolic charade” allegedly orchestrated by former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, to impose a preferred candidate on the party.

“Right now, we have three governorship candidates in one party, all thanks to Amaechi’s high-handedness,” he said.

The aspirant alleged that although the party’s timetable fixed the governorship primary for May 23, aspirants were informed late Friday that the exercise had been moved forward.

According to him, while he was mobilising supporters across the 23 local government areas ahead of the scheduled poll, fellow aspirant Farah Dagogo informed him that a parallel exercise had already been conducted without his knowledge.

Ezekiel-Hart alleged that the state chairman of the party, Chief Chukwudi Dimkpa, invited only five aspirants believed to be loyal to Amaechi while excluding himself and Dagogo from the process.

He described the arrangement as a “kangaroo process” allegedly designed to favour Gabriel P. Thompson, whom he claimed had been positioned as Amaechi’s preferred candidate.

According to him, some aspirants were persuaded to step down for Thompson despite the party’s public insistence that no consensus arrangement would be adopted.

The aspirant further alleged that Dagogo later approached him with a proposal for both men to jointly resist what he described as “Amaechi’s camp”, while also asking him to publicly congratulate him as the winner.

“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,” he said.

Ezekiel-Hart alleged that Dagogo also offered him political compensation, including the possibility of becoming Secretary to the State Government, if he endorsed his claim to victory.

He said he rejected the proposal and subsequently announced himself as winner after Dagogo publicly declared himself victorious.

“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 said.

The aspirant accused the Rivers ADC leadership of sidelining him despite being, according to him, the only aspirant who formally notified the party in writing of his intention to contest.

He also accused Amaechi of attempting to impose a candidate on the party while advocating transparent primaries at the national level.

“How can someone who is demanding transparent presidential primaries at the national level turn around and impose a governorship candidate in Rivers?” he queried.

Ezekiel-Hart further accused Amaechi of failing to account for his role in the political developments that led to the defeat of former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.

“He owes the South-South an apology for what he did to Jonathan and for mortgaging the political future of this region,” he said.

He called on the ADC National Working Committee to nullify the disputed exercise and either conduct a fresh primary or adopt a lawful consensus arrangement in line with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) timetable.

“The most pragmatic thing now is for the NWC to order a rescheduled primary or quickly adopt a lawful consensus option. Time is running against us,” he said.

Ezekiel-Hart also warned Dagogo against invoking the name of Atiku Abubakar to support his claim to victory.

“He should stop tarnishing Atiku’s reputation in Rivers. Atiku is father to all of us; nobody should claim he is imposing any candidate here,” he added.

Despite the controversy, the aspirant said he would pursue all grievances through the party’s internal mechanisms.

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