Ned Nwoko, senator representing Delta north, has rejected the outcome of the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial primary in the district, describing the exercise as flawed and lacking credibility.
Former Delta State governor Ifeanyi Okowa was declared winner of the APC primary held on Monday after reportedly polling 113,309 votes against Nwoko’s 2,612 votes.
Reacting to the outcome on Friday in Abuja through his legal adviser, Chris Okobah, Nwoko said his camp had already approached the party’s appeal committee to contest the results.
“We have taken the appropriate step; we have written to the appeal panel. That is the appropriate way to go,” Okobah said.
“We don’t believe in unleashing violence to cure any wrong. So, the best thing we did was to appeal.”
He explained that the petition was submitted quickly to ensure it complied with the required timeline.
“The time was limited. If you don’t file early enough, it becomes defective by virtue of filing out of time,” he said.
“Even though the result is not acceptable to us, we still have to follow the right procedure to appeal.”
Okobah stated that the next move by the senator would depend on the outcome of the APC appeal process.
“You go through the party mechanism, and then when you’re not satisfied, you can go to court. Maybe they will cure the assumed defect. But if they don’t and we feel unsatisfied, then we have video evidence to challenge the results,” he added.
The legal adviser alleged that the primary election was marred by widespread irregularities, including intimidation, manipulation, violence and vote-buying.
“The senatorial primary election held on the 18th of May 2026 cannot, by any honest standard, be described as free, fair, credible, or transparent,” he said.
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“What should have been a peaceful democratic exercise became a theatre of manipulation, intimidation, vote-buying, violence, and deliberate obstruction of the people’s choice.”
He further claimed that the announced figures did not reflect the actual votes cast, insisting that Nwoko won the contest with over 123,000 votes while Okowa allegedly secured about 5,000 votes.
According to Okobah, the results being circulated were allegedly prepared before the election took place.
“The results they are parading were written before the election day,” he alleged.
He also claimed there was no proper accreditation, transparent voting process, accurate counting or genuine collation during the exercise.
Okobah said the Nwoko camp has video recordings, polling agent reports and ward-level documents from all 98 wards in Delta north to support its allegations.
He warned that sidelining the senator could affect APC’s chances in the district ahead of the general election.
“Where you have a divided house, it’s not going to work,” he said.
“Senator Ned Nwoko is the absolute mobiliser in Delta north. If you are now trying to push him out of the party or shut him down, that is a recipe for disaster for the party.”
Okobah also argued that unresolved corruption allegations against Okowa should have prevented him from participating in the primary election.