Delta North: Who goes to Senate? Okowa or Ned Nwoko?

2026-03-28 - 06:43

By Ochuko Akuopha IF the immediate past governor of Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa throws his hat in the ring to contest the Delta North Senatorial District position in the 2027 general elections as being widely speculated, then what promises to be a titanic battle for the National Assembly seat is set to be on the cards between him and the incumbent, Senator Ned Nwoko. Read Also: APC Convention: Yilwatda, Basiru return as national chairman, secretary The two political heavyweights, now members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, had earlier slugged it out for the senatorial seat in 2011 as candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and the Democratic Peoples Party, DPP, respectively, with the former governor carrying the day. Okowa then represented the Senatorial District at the National Assembly from 2011 to 2015 when he contested and won as governor of the State. He was succeeded at the Senate by the departed Senator Peter Nwaoboshi who served from 2015 to 2023. Nwoko had had an unsuccessful attempt at the seat in 2019, during which he lost the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, senatorial primaries to Peter Nwaoboshi who won in the polls but later defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC. His aspiration however, came to fruition when he emerged as flag bearer of the PDP, for the position – with the support of Okowa who was then, the Vice Presidential candidate of the party – and won in the 2023 polls . Now, the Senatorial district is susceptible to rancour in the build up to the 2027 elections with Okowa and Nwoko currently not being best of friends. Early last year, there were rumours that Okowa was nursing senatorial ambition or touting someone that will run under the PDP. Aside that, Okowa called the shots and held the trump card as far as the control of the PDP’s structure in Delta North were concerned. Senator Nwoko, ostensibly sensing the herculean task ahead in securing the PDP ticket for the 2027 polls quit the party for the APC in January 2025. Though he cited deep divisions and factionalization within the PDP as reason for his defection, the move was also not unconnected with issues relating to the leadership of the PDP in the senatorial district. However, few months after he joined the APC, Nwoko and Okowa were back in the same party as Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and other key stakeholders of the PDP in the State defected to the ruling party on April 28, 2025. Although, Okowa has not officially declared his intention to contest for the position, series of his endorsements by various groups in the senatorial district point to that direction. He has also not shown inclination to support Ned Nwoko to return to the position in 2027. With the APC’s ward, local government and state congresses concluded and the party’s national convention underway, focus will soon shift to party primaries. Okowa is a sagacious political tactician who has earned himself a lot of respect and wields a lot of influence in Delta North and across the political landscape of the State. Aside his prowess in mastering the art of making good moves on the political chessboard, his close ties with Governor Oborevwori and most political stakeholders count for him. “It will be a fight to finish in the APC primary between the two titans, but l think the pendulum of the clock will swing in favour of Okowa because he has a strong grassroot movement as far as Delta North is concerned,” a political observer, Gabriel Osekene, said but quickly added that Nwoko has enormous capacity to spring surprises. “Okowa has affected many lives in terms of empowerment and he has a lot of control of the political structure of Delta North. In fact, Okowa is a grassroot politician anytime any day.” Nwoko on the other hand, is also not a political neophyte. He severed as member representing Anioma/Oshimili Federal Constituency from 1999 to 2003. He has also made a lot of inroads politically since then and can always surprise anyone.” He has earned himself a lot of popularity championing the renewed clamour for the creation of the Anioma State at the National Assembly. He is definitely not a political push-over as he demonstrated in the 2023 Presidential/National Assembly during which he outmuscled the Labour Party and clinched the only senatorial seat that PDP was able to garner in the election. “Ned Nwoko knows his way and he is somebody that if he wants something, he goes all out for it. He has a lot of connection in the legal profession and the presidency. He is somebody that you cannot write off; he is already prepared for the election. “The party’s primaries will not be a delegate election. It will be determined by party members or by consensus. If they opt for consensus, there could be issues because Ned Nwoko and Okowa may not step down for each other. “It will be like a normal election even before the main election. They are two titans going into the contest. But again, nobody should write off Ned Nwoko”. It remains to be seen if other aspirants would indicate interest in the party’s senatorial ticket, but Delta North is a potential battlefield in the senatorial race. Vanguard News