ASABA, Nigeria — A major crisis has engulfed the Delta State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) following the high-stakes senatorial primary elections, as the incumbent lawmaker representing Delta North Senatorial District, Senator Ned Nwoko, formally rejected the declared outcome of the shadow poll. Nwoko has firmly insisted that he defeated the former Governor of Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, in what he described as a free, fair, and fiercely contested democratic exercise before the collation process was allegedly compromised by external actors.
The sitting legislator pointed accusing fingers directly at the seat of power in the state, alleging that the Delta State Government deployed its vast administrative and political machinery to heavily influence the internal party process and illicitly manipulate the final tally in favor of Okowa. The explosive allegations have sent shockwaves through the political landscape of the oil-rich state, threatening to fracture the ruling party’s newly formed alignments ahead of the next general election cycle.
Senator Nwoko made these far-reaching disclosures during a live, hard-hitting interview on ARISE News on Wednesday morning, May 20, 2026. During the broadcast, the lawmaker explained that the internal election was designed to be a grassroots-driven exercise conducted simultaneously across all ninety-eight statutory wards that comprise the Delta North Senatorial District. He asserted that authentic data compiled by his field agents from the various voting centers clearly showed that he maintained a comfortable and insurmountable lead over the former governor.
To validate his claims of victory, Nwoko revealed that his campaign organization took proactive measures to document the entire voting process. He stated that his team is currently in possession of comprehensive, unedited video recordings from each of the ninety-eight wards, which capture the actual voting, counting, and separation of ballots before the process was allegedly hijacked.
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, Nwoko declared confidently during the television interview, signaling his readiness to initiate a grueling legal and administrative battle to reclaim his mandate.
Detailing how the alleged electoral fraud was executed, the lawmaker explained that the process suddenly and suspiciously changed midway into the day’s exercise. According to him, party electoral officials deployed to the field suddenly received instructions from undisclosed higher quarters ordering them to halt the public announcement of results at the ward levels, contrary to the guidelines initially established for the shadow election.
Midway through the process, we were informed that no results would be disclosed at the ward level, Nwoko stated, recounting the confusion that gripped his supporters as the voting wound down. 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.
Instead of a transparent aggregation of the votes from across the entire district, Nwoko claimed that the eventual declaration of Okowa as the winner was based on a highly compromised and localized sample. He alleged that the final result manufactured by the returning officers did not reflect the actual choices made by the thousands of APC card-carrying members who stood in line across Delta North.
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, the senator added, denouncing the final figures as a statistical impossibility and an insult to the democratic process.
The senator did not stop at criticizing the party’s electoral officers; he went on to accuse the incumbent Governor of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori, of working hand-in-hand with Okowa to subvert the will of the APC electorate. The allegation of collusion between the sitting governor and the former governor has introduced a complex layer to the dispute, given the fluid nature of party loyalty in the state's ongoing political realignment.
The governor of Delta State is colluding with Senator Okowa, Nwoko alleged flatly during his appearance on Arise News, implying that state apparatuses were deployed to ensure Okowa secured the opposition party's ticket at all costs.
This unfolding controversy has significantly deepened the growing political tension within the Delta State chapter of the APC. The friction comes at a delicate time for the progressive party, which recently celebrated a massive influx of new members. Okowa, who previously served as the state's chief executive for eight years and was the vice-presidential candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the 2023 general elections, recently decamped to the APC, instantly becoming a powerful gravity well around which several political camps have re-aligned.
Despite the formidable executive influence stacked against him, Nwoko maintained that he would not let the matter slide. He affirmed his commitment to utilizing the internal conflict-resolution mechanisms of the party, confirming plans to file a formal petition before the APC Senatorial Primary Election Appeal Committee.
As at the time of monitoring this developing story, the state executive leadership of the APC in Delta State has yet to issue an official response to the severe institutional allegations raised by the sitting senator.
