The battle for the soul of Delta APC exploded Monday as the party’s old guard threatened Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and ex-Governor Ifeanyi Okowa with “political consequences” if they’re shoved aside before the 2027 primaries.
The warning shot came from the Delta State APC Coalition for Equity, a bloc of founding members who say PDP defectors are hijacking the structure they built from scratch.
“We will resist any plan by PDP people who came in and want to chase us away by excluding us from the primaries,” Coalition Convener Alex Ikpeazu told reporters after a tense meeting at his Ute-Ogbeje country home in Ika North East. “Never in history has it happened that somebody will come to your house and take over your place.”
Ikpeazu said President Bola Tinubu already ordered a 60/40 power split — 60% for legacy APC, 40% for Oborevwori’s PDP arrivals — but the governor is “excluding us completely from the structure and the primaries.”
“There will be political consequences,” he warned. “If they think they are going to rob us of our rights and get away with it and we should come and clap for them and support them, they are making a very huge mistake. The 2027 election is going to be an election like no other. We have the bloc to make things happen in this state.”
“They were calling us Boko Haram when we were piloting the affairs of the APC,” Ikpeazu added. “The PDP people came in and want to chase us away. Is this fair? No.”
The Coalition backed the threat with an eight-point communique signed by Ikpeazu, Delta South Chairman Ambassador Felix Datuowei, Delta Central Deputy Chairman Bishop Michael Oruefe, and Delta North Secretary-General Ken-Chad Rafua.
Key demands: immediate, transparent implementation of Tinubu’s 60/40 formula with legacy leaders picking their 60% nominees; state chairman must come from the legacy bloc and must have bought nomination forms as prescribed; recognition that court cases — including the state chairmanship suit filed by excluded foundation members — are still pending, contrary to the APC National Secretary’s claim on TV; and an end to what they call “impunity and imposition” that left all 14 ward chairmen in Ika North East and “virtually all” ward chairmen statewide in the hands of PDP defectors.
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The bloc vowed to back only “credible and responsible candidates” and warned that sidelining legacy members will trigger “unhealthy electoral consequences” at the polls. They reaffirmed “full and unconditional” support for Tinubu’s re-election to “complete the amazing reforms he has started,” but insisted the 60/40 deal must be executed now to avoid “avoidable acrimonies” before primaries.
The Coalition also called on aggrieved legacy members who feel “neglected, abandoned and cheated” to join its senatorial WhatsApp platforms for “further information and action,” signaling a grassroots mobilization drive.
With primaries looming and 2027 on the horizon, Delta APC is now fighting on two fronts: against the PDP outside, and against itself within.
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