The Executive Assistant to Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori on Public Enlightenment (Projects and Policies), Mr. Olisa Ifeajika, has said Senator Ned Nwoko’s failure to secure the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket for the Delta North Senatorial District ahead of the 2027 general election was the decision of the people, not the result of government interference.
Addressing journalists in Asaba on Tuesday July 21, 2926, Ifeajika dismissed allegations that Governor Oborevwori influenced the APC primary in favour of former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, insisting that the governor played no role in the process.
According to him, the governor was focused on political activities within his own senatorial district and had no reason to interfere in the affairs of Delta North.
“The governor did not interfere in the Delta North APC primary. The outcome reflected the wishes of party members and the people of the senatorial district who believed they needed a different representation,” he said.
Ifeajika maintained that Nwoko lost the contest because many of those who supported him in the 2023 election withdrew their backing, expressing confidence in Okowa’s candidacy.
He described the court’s decision striking out Nwoko’s suit challenging Okowa’s emergence as the APC candidate as consistent with the political reality in Delta North.
The governor’s aide recalled that before the APC primary election, Deputy Governor Sir Monday Onyeme led a delegation of political leaders, stakeholders and party faithful from the nine local government areas of Delta North to formally urge Okowa to contest the senatorial seat.
He argued that the move demonstrated the overwhelming support enjoyed by the former governor across the district and should have signalled the political mood to Nwoko.
Ifeajika further claimed that while Okowa embarked on consultations across the senatorial district before the primary, Nwoko failed to engage adequately with party members and constituents before declaring his intention to seek re-election.
He also dismissed Nwoko’s legal challenge, which questioned Okowa’s eligibility on the grounds of his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC, insisting that the mass defection of Governor Oborevwori, Okowa and other PDP leaders into the APC was a public and widely acknowledged event.
He urged Nwoko to accept the outcome of the primary, respect the party’s internal processes and work with the APC leadership, the Delta State Government and the Presidency in the interest of party unity and national development.
Nwoko had approached the court to challenge Okowa’s emergence as the APC candidate for the Delta North Senatorial District in the 2027 elections, but the suit was struck out by an Abuja court on July 14, 2026.
