The African Democratic Congress (ADC) governorship hopeful in Rivers State, Dr. Farah Dagogo, has declared that the Wike-led Rainbow Coalition would be rejected by voters in the 2027 governorship election, insisting that Rivers people are yearning for a new political direction.

Dagogo, who described his campaign as a movement for the “liberation” of Rivers State, accused members of the coalition of contributing to what he characterised as years of stagnation in the state.

Speaking at a strategic stakeholder consultation meeting, the ADC candidate said the 2027 election would give Rivers voters an opportunity to reject what he called “recycled failure” and demand a government focused on development and the welfare of the people.

He said the political influence of the Rainbow Coalition would be tested at the ballot box, arguing that Rivers voters, rather than political calculations, would determine the group’s actual strength.

“The truth is, it is the Rainbow Coalition against the entire Rivers State because the Rainbow Coalition people are bearers of the chain of bondage militating against the state.

“They are a gathering of those who have benefited from the retrogression of our state and are determined to keep it that way,” Dagogo said.

He added: “We will put their name, Rainbow Coalition, to the test in the 2027 general elections. Rivers people are tired of recycled failure. It is time to break this cycle and set our state on the path of real development.”

Dagogo also criticised what he described as attempts to rewrite the history of the Bodo-Bonny Road project and attribute its completion exclusively to President Bola Tinubu

According to him, the project was the product of decades of agitation by the people of Bonny, the intervention of community leaders and successive federal administrations.

He traced the demand for the road to the 1950s, when the late Amanyanabo of Grand Bonny Kingdom, King Eugene William Dappa Pepple II, Perekule IX, reportedly raised concerns about the ability of residents to leave the island during an emergency following the commencement of Shell operations in the area.

Dagogo said the late Chief Dappa Biriye and other leaders later took the demand to the military government of General Yakubu Gowon through the then Military Governor of Old Rivers State, Admiral Alfred Diete-Spiff.

He said the Gowon administration approved designs for the project in the early 1970s, but implementation was stalled for decades.

According to him, a bridge span constructed during the Second Republic was subsequently abandoned, becoming a symbol of unfulfilled promises by successive administrations.

He said former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan also contributed to keeping the project alive through various interventions, including its re-award in 2014.

Dagogo further credited the current Amanyanabo of Grand Bonny Kingdom, King Edward Asimini William Dappa Pepple III, Edward I, JP, CON, Perekule XI, with engaging the Muhammadu Buhari administration on the need to revive the project.

He said the engagement eventually resulted in Nigeria LNG Limited funding the project through a tax-credit arrangement and its revival under a public-private partnership.

Dagogo therefore accused members of the Rainbow Coalition of attempting to appropriate the credit for the project.

“By the time this administration came in, the project was already about 95 per cent completed. To now claim sole glory is deceptive,” he said.

The ADC candidate also recalled the controversy surrounding the groundbreaking ceremony for the project in 2017, alleging that the Rivers State Government at the time attempted to frustrate the use of public school fields for the federal event.

Dagogo, who said he was the Chairman of the Rivers State House of Assembly Committee on Education at the time, alleged that the state Ministry of Education warned school principals and headmasters against allowing school facilities to be used for the ceremony.

He said the event, initially scheduled for Government Girls Secondary School, Finima, was eventually moved to Shell Gate on Bonny Island.

“I kicked against it, engaged the state government and advised that we should not allow politics to get in the way of a project that would benefit our people,” he said.

Dagogo accused the same political interests of now attempting to take credit for a project he claimed they had opposed at the time.

“Today, they are applauding the same projects and sharing glories among themselves, but their roles and the events that played out are already etched in history and cannot be rewritten,” he said.

On his agenda for Rivers State, Dagogo promised to prioritise education, healthcare, security, electricity, employment, wealth creation, affordable housing, agriculture and infrastructure.

He pledged to make education free and functional while integrating Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics and Sports (STEAMS) into the state curriculum.

He also promised to rebuild the primary healthcare system and improve access to basic healthcare, particularly for children.

“Security will be treated as a top priority because no investor and no family can thrive in fear,” he said.

The ADC candidate further pledged to commit five per cent of the state’s annual budget to youth entrepreneurship, skills acquisition and job creation.

“Our youths are not the problem. They are the solution. Five per cent of our annual budget will go directly into youth entrepreneurship, skills acquisition, and job creation. We cannot continue to produce graduates without giving them a future,” he said.

He also promised programmes to address infrastructure deficits, develop agriculture and support small businesses across Rivers State’s 23 local government areas.

“We are not coming to manage poverty. We are coming to end it. The time has come for Rivers State to move forward, and with your mandate to serve and not rule over you, we will do it,” Dagogo said.