‘APC Promised Me Automatic Return Ticket Before Defection’ — Ned Nwoko Speaks On Losing Party Primary

Senator representing Delta North, Ned Nwoko, has accused the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) of deception, alleging that he was promised an automatic return ticket to the Senate before defecting to the ruling party from Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The senator’s outburst came in the wake of his defeat in the recent APC primary election in Delta North, a development that has exposed widening cracks within the Delta State chapter of the ruling party ahead of the 2027 general election.

Speaking during an interview on Arise News’ Prime Time show on Tuesday night, the businessman turned lawmaker expressed frustration over what he described as betrayal by party leaders.

“I certainly was told before I came into the party that there would be an automatic ticket for me,” Nwoko said.

“Why would I just leave my previous platform like that without making sure I have a secure ride? That promise was broken basically because it wasn’t an automatic ticket, you had to compete for it.”

The Senator disclosed that assurances given to him before joining the APC included power-sharing arrangements and a restructuring of the party’s executive committee in Delta State.

“Legacy APC members have been shoved aside and the new guys that came in took over practically everything,” he stated .

Nwoko also said that they were promised discussions that never took place. “Myself and others were promised that there would be discussions on the new structure of the party.”

According to him, those commitments disappeared following the exit of former APC National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje.

“The former chairman,” he said when asked who made the promises. “We had meetings with him and other leaders of the party and we were assured that there’d be some (new) sharing formula. We were even told that the state excos would be dissolved and there will be nominations to enable the old APC to get the foot-holding to the government, but that was never done.”

“Ganduje is no longer the chairman, that’s the problem,” Nwoko added.

LEADERSHIP reports that the controversy intensified after the APC returning officer at the Delta North senatorial primaries declared the immediate-past Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, winner of the May 18 primary election.

Official results released by the party showed Okowa polling 113,309 votes, while Nwoko secured 2,612 votes.

However, Nwoko and his legal team have rejected the outcome, describing the exercise as a “theatre of manipulation, intimidation, and vote-buying.”

The senator insisted that his camp was in possession of video evidence and ward-level result sheets allegedly proving that he won overwhelmingly across 98 wards in Delta North.

He further alleged that the figures eventually announced by the party were fabricated before election day.

LEADERSHIP reports that Nwoko’s defection from the PDP to the APC in January 2025 had generated significant political attention.