Ifeanyi Okowa has announced his intention to contest for the Delta North Senatorial seat in the 2027 general elections. The former Delta State governor, who served two terms from 2015 to 2023, stated that leaders from the Anioma region urged him to run for the position to better serve the senatorial district and the state. Okowa revealed he accepted their proposal, saying, "I accept your proposal to run for the Senate position, and we will run and win together. I will not disappoint you." This decision marks a sharp political shift, as Okowa previously supported Ned Nwoko's successful bid for the same seat under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2023. Nwoko, who represented Aniocha/Oshimili in the House of Representatives from 1999 to 2003, is the current senator for Delta North. The relationship between the two men has deteriorated since Nwoko defected from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in January 2025. Nwoko cited internal PDP leadership crises and opposition from Okowa and Governor Oborevwori to the creation of Anioma state as reasons for his defection. Okowa, who remains a key PDP figure, insists the proposed Anioma state must be within the South-South geopolitical zone. He was absent from Nwoko's Anioma Stakeholders Summit in August 2025, deepening the rift. Okowa has since called his support for Nwoko's 2023 Senate campaign a "mistake" and apologized to Anioma leaders.
Ifeanyi Okowa's sudden interest in the Delta North Senate seat he once helped Ned Nwoko secure reveals a stark recalibration of political loyalty driven by regional ambition and personal grievance. Once allies who shared governance roles in the early 2000s and later collaborated in the 2023 PDP campaign, Okowa and Nwoko are now on a collision course, with Okowa publicly calling his past support for Nwoko a "mistake" — a rare admission from a seasoned politician.
The fracture is rooted in divergent visions for Anioma's political future. While Nwoko champions the creation of an Anioma state and defected to the APC citing resistance from Okowa and Governor Oborevwori, Okowa insists any new state must remain within the South-South, undermining Nwoko's regional narrative. His absence from the August 2025 Anioma Stakeholders Summit and subsequent embrace of Anioma elders' call to run for Senate suggest a deliberate effort to reclaim influence in a region he once ceded to Nwoko.
For residents of Delta North, particularly in Aniocha and Oshimili, this feud translates into uncertainty over representation and priorities. The looming 2027 battle between two former allies could split the electorate, with grassroots supporters forced to choose between competing visions of identity, state creation, and political loyalty.
This clash fits a broader pattern in Delta politics, where alliances are often temporary and shaped by access to power, party leverage, and control over succession. Okowa's pivot underscores how personal calculations and regional aspirations can rapidly redefine political trajectories in Nigeria's southern states.
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