The incumbent senator representing Delta North Senatorial District, Ned Nwoko, has warned the All Progressives Congress (APC) that it risks a severe political backlash and an internal collapse in Delta State if the controversial outcome of its Delta North senatorial primary is not urgently addressed.
Nwoko insisted that the alleged irregularities marring the process could trigger far-reaching consequences for the ruling party in the state ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Speaking through his legal adviser, Chris Okobah, during a press briefing in Abuja on Friday, the senator alleged that the primary election was heavily manipulated, plagued by intimidation, and riddled with procedural violations.
He described the exercise as fundamentally flawed and entirely incapable of reflecting the true will of the party’s delegates.
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Nwoko’s critical remarks follow the APC senatorial primary for Delta North held on May 18, 2026, which officially produced former Delta State governor Ifeanyi Okowa as the party’s flagbearer for the 2027 elections.
According to the official declaration, Okowa polled a staggering 113,309 votes to defeat the incumbent senator, Ned Nwoko, who was said to have secured only 2,612 votes, while another candidate, Maryam Ali, reportedly polled a mere 40 votes.
However, the Nwoko camp has completely rejected the declared outcome, maintaining that the announced figures do not reflect the reality of what transpired across the 98 wards in Delta North.
Okobah dismissed the exercise as a “theatre of fraud,” insisting that available field reports, ward-level documentation, and field agents’ reports clearly proved that Nwoko held the overwhelming support of delegates across Delta North.
“So, the president must be very careful to see that this is not the kind of person you push out. In the last election, three out of three Senatorial districts in Delta State, NED won his election.”
“And it is even because of Ned, that he (Okowa) won re-election as governor because he came kneeling down begging Ned that he should work for him.”
“That was why he won re-election. So, if they think they can now sideline him, I’m telling you, it would be recipe for disaster.”
The legal adviser further alleged that the entire process had been heavily compromised long before the actual voting began. He claimed that party officials and electoral handlers were heavily influenced and that the collation process completely lacked transparency in several wards.
Okobah argued that in numerous polling locations, accreditation and voting procedures were either violently disrupted or shielded from transparent scrutiny, adding that results were allegedly written out in some areas before voting even started.
He also accused unnamed political actors of weaponizing financial inducement, intimidation, and administrative influence to forcefully shape the outcome of the exercise.
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Rather than heading straight to court to challenge the results, the Nwoko camp disclosed that it would first explore internal party dispute resolution mechanisms, urging the APC national leadership to thoroughly review the process and examine the evidence submitted.
“We are not rushing to court for now. We want the party mechanism to address these issues. If that fails, we will explore all lawful options available to us”, he said.
The legal adviser maintained that the group remains entirely committed to due process, but explicitly warned that ignoring the grievances of key stakeholders within the party could deepen internal divisions and tear the party apart.
