Senator Ned Nwoko, representing Delta North Senatorial District, has alleged that the All Progressives Congress (APC) primaries in Delta State were manipulated to favour preferred candidates, accusing the state government of undermining internal party democracy.
Speaking during an exclusive interview on ARISE News on Tuesday, the senator expressed dissatisfaction with the conduct of the senatorial primaries, insisting that the process lacked fairness and transparency from the outset.
“The process was manipulated from day one. The State Government. It’s something that they conspired to produce results for what they saw, or what they produced,” he alleged.
Nwoko said his camp possessed ward-by-ward results and video evidence from the exercise, adding that the materials had already been submitted to relevant party authorities.
“We have submitted them. Halfway through the primary, we got a message on our phones that no results should be announced at the ward level that they should be collected and then announced later at the national in Abuja.
”We’ll announce the results. And so, we thought we’d be law-abiding,” he explained.
He claimed that despite complying with the directive, reports later emerged declaring former State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa winner based on what he described as limited evidence from only one ward in Ika North East.
“And suddenly, we saw some news. We saw only that one video of one of the wards in Ika North East, which is a ward where the major assistant known to everybody that worked with the Governor, they are from that particular village, next to the Governor’s village.
“It was just one video, showing three people in a line, and then the rest that were probably not more than 500. That’s what I saw in the video. Although in the result, they said there were 5,000,” he said.
The senator insisted that the video showing Okowa’s declaration represented just one ward out of the 98 wards involved in the primary election and challenged party officials to release the remaining results and supporting materials for public scrutiny.
“I want you to understand something. The video that you saw, where Ifeanyi Okowa was announced as the winner, just one video from one ward out of 98 wards.
”Maybe they should show us other videos. They must show us the figures,” he stated.
Nwoko maintained that he would not accept any outcome upheld by the APC national leadership if it contradicted what he described as the genuine mandate of party members.
“I wouldn’t accept. Because I have a mandate. I have a mandate by the people,” he said.
Responding to allegations of violence and intimidation in some areas regarded as his strongholds, the senator described the incidents as isolated cases that did not significantly affect the overall outcome of the exercise.
“They were just isolated cases, maybe in about 10 wards out of 98. Not enough to make a difference,” he added.
Nwoko also reflected on his decision to leave the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), claiming that he was denied political freedom while serving under the party.
“I was in PDP. I got elected as a PDP Senator. But I realised that my people there, the Governor, Okowa himself you know, didn’t allow me to operate freely,” he alleged.
On the outcome of the primary, the lawmaker insisted that the level of participation across the wards demonstrated clear support for his candidacy.
“They came out in mass to vote for me. It’s also an indication of who they want. I’m referring to all the videos! I hope that you should also have some videos to show you. As simple as that,” he maintained.
He further expressed confidence that President Bola Tinubu would intervene in the matter, while reiterating his loyalty to the APC despite the dispute.
“I’m not going to say I’m going to work against the party; I’m going to work for the party. But I can assure you of this: I’m sure that the President will intervene in this matter,” he said.
Nwoko disclosed that his camp had already submitted results from all 98 wards alongside video recordings, insisting he remained optimistic about the eventual resolution of the dispute.
“We have submitted the results from the 98 wards, with the videos. I’m not worried. I’m not thinking about working against the party, and I wouldn’t do that because of the interest of the people that make up the party, the masses,” he stated.
Speaking further on APC politics in Delta State, the senator claimed President Tinubu was aware of tensions between old APC members and defectors from the PDP.
“The President knows what’s happening in Delta. He knows that the legacy APC members have been shoved aside by the new PDP guys that came into the party.
”He knows that they control the party. He knows that there are fundamental problems in Delta,” Nwoko said.
He also claimed that assurances of inclusion and power-sharing arrangements made to him and other politicians upon joining the APC were never fulfilled.
“I myself and others were promised by the former Chairman, Alhaji Oyegun, that there would be discussions on the new structure of the party,” he said.
“We had meetings with him and other leaders of the party and we were assured that there would be some power-sharing formula.
”We were even told, for example, that the state EXCO would be dissolved and that there would be nominations to enable the old APC to sort of get a foothold into the government. But that was never done,” he added.
The senator insisted he would not concede defeat based on what he described as incomplete evidence from only one ward.
“No. I would not concede. Because I was there. If you have the evidence, I have the video. We won the primary. I couldn’t have won his ward. That would be foolhardy of me to think I would win his ward. But the majority? Of course, yes,” he insisted.
Questioning the legitimacy of the declared outcome, Nwoko argued that conclusions should not be drawn from a single ward result when 98 wards participated in the exercise.
“How could you base your declaration of a result on one ward? One ward. That particular ward that you know belongs to Governor Okowa.
”There are many other 97 other wards. Why don’t you just find out what happened in them?” he queried.
