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By Lawrence Agbo
Senator Ned Nwoko, who represents Delta North Senatorial District, has called on President Bola Tinubu to step into the growing controversy surrounding the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial primaries in Delta State, alleging that the process was manipulated to favour preferred candidates.
Speaking during an interview with ARISE NEWS on Tuesday, Nwoke insisted he remained loyal to the APC and would not work against the party, expressing confidence that President Tinubu would intervene to ensure justice and transparency.
“I’m not going to work against the party. I believe the President will intervene in this matter,” he added.
Nwoko alleged that longstanding APC members in Delta had been sidelined by defectors from the PDP who now control the party structure in the state.
“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.
Nwoko further expressed dissatisfaction with the conduct of the primaries, insisting that the exercise lacked fairness and transparency from the outset.
According to him, the process was influenced by forces within the Delta State political structure to produce predetermined outcomes.
“The process was manipulated from day one. The State Government conspired to produce results for what they wanted,” the senator alleged.
Ned Nwoko stated that his camp had compiled ward-by-ward results and video recordings from across the state, which he said had already been submitted to the party leadership as evidence.
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He explained that during the exercise, participants were instructed not to announce results at ward level, but instead forward them for collation and declaration in Abuja. However, he said reports later surfaced declaring former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa winner based largely on a video from a single ward in Ika North East.
The senator questioned the credibility of the figures released from that ward, claiming the crowd visible in the footage was far smaller than the announced vote totals.
“I saw just one video from one ward out of 98 wards, yet figures of about 5,000 votes were announced. They should release the results from the remaining wards,” he said.
Nwoko maintained that the declaration from one ward could not legitimately determine the outcome of the entire primary, insisting that results from all 98 wards must be made public for transparency and accountability.
The lawmaker said he would not accept any outcome that contradicts what he described as the genuine mandate given to him by party members during the primaries.
“I have a mandate by the people. I would not accept manipulated results,” he declared.
Responding to reports of intimidation and violence in some areas, Nwoko acknowledged that there were isolated incidents in a few wards but argued they were not significant enough to alter the overall outcome of the exercise.
He also used the opportunity to explain the frustrations that led to his exit from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), alleging that he was prevented from operating freely as a senator under the previous political arrangement in Delta State.
According to him, APC leaders had promised a fair integration process for old and new members after his defection, including restructuring within the party and power-sharing arrangements, but those assurances were never fulfilled.
Ned Nwoko maintained that the evidence available to his camp showed he secured the majority of votes across the wards, stressing that no final conclusion should be reached until the complete results from all 98 wards are reviewed.
