Senator Ned Nwoko has rejected the outcome of the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial primary in Delta North, insisting that he won the contest.
Naija News reports that Nwoko dismissed the declaration of former Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, as the winner of the primary election.
Speaking during an interview on Arise TV, the senator claimed that the announced results did not reflect the actual votes recorded at the ward level.
According to Nwoko, party officials instructed that results should no longer be announced at the wards midway into the exercise.
He explained that officials directed that all results be collated and later announced at the party’s national headquarters in Abuja.
“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,” he said.
Nwoko added that his camp complied with the directive before reports later surfaced declaring another winner.
The senator also questioned the credibility of the result announced from one ward video circulated online.
According to him, the turnout seen in the footage did not match the figures eventually declared.
“It was just one video, showing three people in a line, and then the rest, who were probably not more than 500. Although in the result, they said there were 5,000,” he stated.
Nwoko stressed that only one ward video out of the 98 wards in the senatorial district had been made public and challenged party officials to release evidence from the remaining wards.
“The video that you saw, where Ifeanyi Okowa was announced as the winner, was just one video from one ward out of 98 wards. Maybe they should show us other videos. They must show us the figures,” he said.
‘We’ll Head To Court’
The senator maintained that he would not accept any outcome that contradicted what he described as the genuine mandate of party members.
“I wouldn’t accept it because I have a mandate. I have a mandate by the people. We will head towards litigation,” he declared.
Despite the disagreement, Nwoko said he remained loyal to the APC and would not work against the party.
“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 stated.
Nwoko further revealed that his team had submitted results and video evidence from all 98 wards in the district.
“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,” he added.
Speaking on the political situation within the APC in Delta State, the senator alleged that long-standing party members had been sidelined following the defection of former PDP members into the ruling party.
“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,” Nwoko alleged.
He also claimed that earlier promises regarding the restructuring of the party leadership in the state were never fulfilled.
“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 get a foothold into the government. But that was never done,” he said.
Nwoko insisted he would not concede defeat, stressing that while he did not expect to win every ward, he remained convinced he secured the majority of votes in the primary election.
“No, I would not concede. Because I was there. If you have the evidence, I have the video. We won the primary,” he concluded.