By Kingston Magare 22.5.2026
Billionaire politician Ned Nwoko said Friday in Abuja he would not accept the result of the All-Progress Congress Senatorial primary where he was defeated by former Delta State governor Dr Ifeanyi Okowa.
Speaking through his representatives in Abuja Ned Nwoko who is the incumbent Senator representing Delta North said the primaries were marred by irregularities, electoral fraud and Intimidation of voters.
“The primary election “cannot, by any honest standard, be described as free, fair, credible, or transparent. What should have been a peaceful democratic exercise became a theatre of manipulation, intimidation, vote buying, violence, and deliberate obstruction of the people’s choice,” Chris Okobah who addressed journalists on behalf of Ned Nwoko.
He argued that Okowa was roundly beaten in the election saying out 123, 000 votes, the former governor got only 5,000 votes. But in the result released by electoral officials Okowa had 113,309 votes and Ned Nwoko 2,612 votes.
“There are 98 wards, and we have video evidence, agents’ reports, and ward-level records showing what truly happened across the entire senatorial district.
“The tragedy is that the manipulation did not begin on election day. It started earlier, when Senator Ned Nwoko was allegedly denied access to the electoral panel members who were kept in Government VIP houses. That was where the rigging began.
“The panel members were allegedly appointed and controlled by powerful state interests, while the returning officers were reportedly commissioners, advisers, assistants, or persons connected to the state government.
“Many of these so-called officials did not even come to the venues of the primaries. They did not expect our people to show up in such massive numbers. But when the delegates came out peacefully to vote, those who could not defeat the peoples will allegedly resort to violence, disruption, and the scattering of delegates.”
there was no proper accreditation. There was no transparent voting. There was no honest counting. There was no genuine collation. In many places, what they called an election was nothing more than a political fraud dressed in party colours. Results were allegedly written the night before, long before the people arrived to exercise their democratic right.
“We also received reports of vote buying, intimidation of party members, threats of suspension, and open inducement of delegates. Money was allegedly shared to voters and party officials, while the genuine voice of the people was being suppressed.”
According to him, Nwoko remained the choice of the people, insisting “the people’s mandate cannot be stolen by intimidation, violence, or state-sponsored manipulation.”
Ned Nwoko and Okowa...kangaroo elections.