Okowa Defeats Nwoko to Clinch Delta North APC Senatorial Ticket

ASABA, NIGERIA — In a major political shakeup ahead of the 2027 general elections, the immediate past Governor of Delta State, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, has clinched the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial ticket for the Delta North district.

​Okowa secured a landslide victory over the incumbent lawmaker, Senator Ned Nwoko, during the party’s direct primary elections conducted across the nine local government areas of the senatorial district.

​Announcing the official results in Asaba, the Chairman of the Delta State National Assembly Primary Election Committee for the APC, Eugene Odo, declared Okowa the winner after a sweeping performance at the polls. According to the authenticated figures, Okowa polled a staggering 113,309 votes from the party faithful, while Senator Nwoko managed only 2,612 votes.

​”Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, having secured the highest number of votes in the APC senatorial primaries in Delta North, is hereby declared the winner of the election,” Odo announced.

​A Battle of Political Heavyweights and Party Defectors

​The primary election marked a high-stakes showdown between two of Delta State’s most prominent political figures, both of whom recently crossed over from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

​Senator Nwoko, an international lawyer widely known in popular culture as the husband of Nollywood actress Regina Daniels, defected to the APC in early 2025 following internal rifts within the opposition party. Okowa, who served as Delta State Governor from 2015 to 2023 and was the PDP’s vice-presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, similarly shifted his allegiance to the ruling APC, setting the stage for a fierce intra-party rivalry.

​The scale of Okowa’s victory was evident early on Monday during ward-level counts. For instance, in Ward 9, Okpanam, the former governor garnered 4,462 votes, leaving the sitting senator with just three votes.

​Allegations of Manipulation Taint the Process

​The primary election was not without significant controversy. Hours before the final results were certified, the Nwoko Campaign Organisation raised the alarm, alleging that the state political machinery had been heavily deployed to manipulate the process.

​In a statement signed by the Director-General of the campaign, Ekene Kerry, Nwoko’s team claimed that the electoral panel sent from the APC national headquarters was compromised by state actors determined to block the incumbent’s re-election bid.

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​”State machinery has been mobilized, with government appointees acting as returning officers at ward and local government levels to write results in favor of Dr. Okowa,” Kerry alleged, adding that Nwoko’s supporters faced threats of violence at various voting centers.

​Despite these protests, the APC election committee moved forward with the announcement, citing the authenticated returns sent from the various local government areas.

​Shifting Tides in Delta APC

​The outcome cements Okowa’s return to the frontline of federal politics, a decade after he previously represented Delta North in the Red Chamber between 2011 and 2015.

​The political realignment extends beyond Delta North. In the neighboring Delta Central Senatorial District primary held on the same day, incumbent Senator Ede Dafinone successfully retained his ticket, polling 116,252 votes to defeat his predecessor and former Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, who scored 3,643 votes.

​With Okowa and Dafinone officially holding the APC banners, the ruling party positions itself for an aggressive push to consolidate its hold over Delta State in the upcoming general elections. Senator Nwoko’s camp has yet to state whether they will formally appeal the primary results to the APC National Working Committee.