Senator Ned Nwoko has rejected the outcome of the All Progressives Congress, APC, primary election in Delta North, insisting that he defeated former Delta State governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, in a free and fair contest.
The lawmaker accused the Delta State government of influencing the process and manipulating the final outcome in favour of Okowa.
Nwoko made the allegation during an interview on ARISE News on Wednesday. He claimed that the exercise held across the 98 wards in Delta North and that results from the various wards clearly showed he emerged victorious.
According to him, his team has video recordings from all the wards to support the claim that he won the election.
“The APC primaries for Delta North were conducted across 98 wards. I possess video evidence from each ward demonstrating that I won the election, and I intend to present it to the party,” he said.
The senator further alleged that the process suddenly changed midway into the exercise after party officials allegedly instructed that ward-level results should not be announced publicly.
“Midway through the process, we were informed that no results would be disclosed at the ward level,” he stated.
“We were led to believe that the results would be revealed at the national level, and we expected the party to adhere to proper procedures.”
Nwoko said the eventual declaration of Okowa as winner did not reflect the actual votes cast during the primary election.
“Instead, we were abruptly given a result from a single ward that is closely associated with the former governor, and this result was utilized as the basis for declaring the winner,” he added.
The senator also accused Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of working with Okowa to influence the process.
“The governor of Delta State is colluding with Senator Okowa,” Nwoko alleged during the interview.
The development has further deepened the growing tension within the Delta APC ahead of the next election cycle, especially following the recent political realignments in the state.
Okowa, who served as governor of Delta State for eight years and was the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, vice-presidential candidate in the 2023 election, recently became a major figure in the APC after his political camp aligned with the ruling party in the state.
Nwoko, however, maintained that he would challenge the outcome through the appropriate channels within the party.
The APC leadership in Delta State has yet to officially respond to the allegations raised by the senator.
