The senator representing Delta North Senatorial District, Ned Nwoko, has lodged a formal petition challenging the outcome of the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial primary in which he was defeated by former Delta State governor Ifeanyi Okowa.
Grounds of the Challenge
According to a party insider familiar with the petition, Nwoko is contesting the result on the basis that Okowa allegedly did not resign from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before applying for membership in the APC.
Okowa officially joined the APC on April 23, alongside Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori.
Parallel Dispute in Rivers State
The report also notes that several aggrieved APC aspirants in Rivers State have reportedly challenged the emergence of Kingsley Chinda as the party’s governorship candidate. At the time of the primary, Chinda served as the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives for the Obio/Akpor Federal Constituency.
Party Official’s Response
An APC official responded to the Rivers State challenge, stating that the party’s membership register is sufficient proof of affiliation, regardless of an individual’s previous positions.
The official remarked, “Even in the Rivers case, the fact that a particular aspirant’s membership of the party is evidenced by his name on the register is sufficient, regardless of whether he is a minority leader or not.”
Adding further context, the source noted, “As far as the register of the APC is concerned, he’s a registered member of our party and he doesn’t need to announce the day he registered his membership after leaving the PDP.”
The official drew a comparison to former Senate President Bukola Saraki, asking, “When Bukola Saraki resigned from the APC to rejoin the PDP, did he resign as Senate President? In any event, the issue of who is a member of a party is an internal matter. It is the party that will determine who its members are.”
The party source concluded that the question of party membership remains an internal affair of the APC, to be resolved by the party’s own structures.
About the Author
