OBOREVWORI–OKOWA CAMP CONDUCT SEPARATE CONGRESS

By our Correspondent

The deepening internal contest for structural control of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State came to a head as the bloc aligned with former Deputy Senate President Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, former Governor James Ibori and Senator Prince Ned Nwoko, alongside what leaders describe as the overwhelming majority of the legacy APC structure, produced parallel ward executives across the state.

The development followed parallel congresses also conducted on Wednesday, by the camp linked to Governor Rt Hon Sheriff Oborevwori and former Governor Dr. Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa whose political structure recently integrated into the APC following the governor’s defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Leaders within the Delta North APC Coalition for Equity confirmed that the congress process supervised by the Oborevwori-aligned bloc systematically sidelined longstanding party members, particularly those who built the party structure prior to the governor’s entry into the APC.

At a joint briefing, coalition leaders insisted that the Omo-Agege–Ibori–Nwoko tendency remains the authentic custodian of the party’s grassroots machinery, maintaining that a substantial majority of the old APC leadership across wards and local government areas participated in the parallel process they organised.

According to the coalition, the foundational stakeholders were excluded from meetings where consensus lists were allegedly drafted by the new entrants.

The coalition’s chairman, Chief Alex Ikpeazu, and Acting Secretary General, Ken-Chad Rafua, stated that established ward leaders were neither invited nor consulted in the preparation of consensus lists presented by the governor’s political structure.

They further contended that members who had duly purchased congress nomination forms were denied access to them, alleging that forms were privately completed for loyalists of the new bloc without broad-based consultation.

The dispute was reinforced by formal protests emerging from affected wards. In Ward 8, Umuebu, Ukwuani Local Government Area, recognised ward leaders submitted a petition rejecting what they described as an unauthorized and fraudulently altered executive list.

The petition, signed by Hon. Gloria Okolugbo, Hon. Kizito Akinima, Sir Kedinuwa Okwuedei, Hon. Chief Edward Idise, Hon. Leonard Echigeme, Hon. Ada Douglas Betty and Chief Ifeanyi Ekpenuma, stated that a duly convened meeting held on February 8, 2026 unanimously adopted and harmonised a ward executive list. However, they maintained that the Ward Chairman, in collaboration with Barr. Ambrose Egunatum, subsequently altered the agreed list by substituting and inserting names without consultation or ratification by the collective ward leadership, and submitted the altered document without their knowledge.

The signatories declared the altered list null and void, disassociated themselves from it, and demanded that only the unanimously endorsed list be recognised as the legitimate Ward 8 executive structure.

Similarly, in Ward 6, Ndokwa East Local Government Area, a petition addressed to Governor Sheriff Oborevwori stated gross misconduct and disregard for the APC constitution and party directives in the congress process.

In the letter signed by Hon. Increase Chinedu Ochonogor, it was established that certain leaders conducted a congress list without the knowledge of the ward chairman, Mr. Obi Johnny, and the ward leader, Hon. Chief Mary Chidi. The petitioner stated that the initial list was rejected by the Ndokwa East APC leader, Chief Godwill Obielum, and Party Chairman Chief Kris Oputa, who directed a fresh congress.

According to the petition, a new consensus process was conducted in the presence of party leaders, during which Ochonogor was selected as Ward 6 Secretary in line with party directives. However, he confirmed that upon arriving in Asaba to obtain his congress form, he was denied recognition and removed from the list over claims that he was opposing former Governor Okowa’s senatorial ambition.

The petition questioned whether certain individuals were being treated as above the party constitution and warned that selective enforcement of directives could undermine internal democracy and unity.

The dispute was further reinforced by a formal protest letter signed by several ward chairmen across Delta North Senatorial District and copied to Senator Ned Nwoko. In the letter, the signatories – Mr. Frank Asimoye, Mr. Onwuemene Gabriel, Pastor Andrew Ehiyem, Mr. Nduka Erikume, Mr. Kenneth Akadidi, Mr. Okocha Patrick, Mr. Emma Odogwu Chukwuekwu, expressed concern that the consensus process, as implemented, had generated “widespread unease and a growing perception of marginalisation” among longstanding party faithful.

The ward chairmen recalled their mobilisation efforts during the 2023 presidential election in support of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and warned that any structure that sidelines established grassroots leadership could weaken party cohesion and electoral preparedness.

They called on the state leadership to suspend the current congress process in Delta North and institute a more transparent and constitutionally compliant framework that accommodates both legacy members and new entrants.

While the Oborevwori–Okowa camp is understood to have proceeded with its own congress arrangements, sources within that bloc insist that their process was consensus driven and in line with state party directives.

The manner in which the APC’s national leadership intervenes in the unfolding dispute in Delta State could prove decisive for the party’s long-term stability in the state. History offers a recent and cautionary precedent. It was sustained internal fragmentation, unresolved factional rivalries, and the gradual alienation of core stakeholders that ultimately weakened and dismantled the once dominant PDP structure in Delta.

For years, simmering grievances within the PDP went unmanaged, parallel loyalties hardened, and competing power centres operated without a harmonised command structure. By the time the cracks became visible to the public, the institutional cohesion that once sustained the party had already eroded. What followed was a systemic collapse that created the vacuum the APC now capitalised upon.

Will the APC tread the same path that led to the implosion of its former rival? Most of the political actors who were central to the PDP’s internal crises are now becoming influential within the APC’s evolving structure in Delta.

The Delta APC stands at a crossroads. Whether the APC charts a new course or inadvertently retraces the road that led to its opponent’s collapse may depend on how swiftly and judiciously its leadership acts.