Senator representing Delta North senatorial district, Mr. Ned Nwoko, has said Delta State, Governor Sheriff Francis Oborevwori, would not be welcomed to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Speaking to reporters after he was warmly received by the Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje-led national working committee (NWC) at the National Secretariat of the party in Abuja on Wednesday, he adduced what he termed the absence of “capacity” on the part of Oborevwori as the reason why he, alongside critical stakeholders of the APC in Delta State, would bloc his entry into the APC fold.

Nwoko spoke against the backdrop of speculation that the Delta state Governor is also considering defecting from the APC as part of a survival strategy to retain his plum job in the 2027 poll.

However, Nwoko insists that the Governor cannot fit into the APC fold because he has not been answerable and accountable to the people of Delta State which receives over N52 billion monthly from derivation from oil revenues and statutory allocation.

Nwoko cited the Governor’s inability to invest about N35 billion aimed at stepping down 120 megawatts of electricity from the Kwale power plant which would have addressed the appalling level of power supply in Delta state as well as the utilisation of the Ogwashi-Uku dam required to supply portable water to the citizenry in his constituency as part of the reasons why he lost confidence in the Governor.

Nwoko, who was accompanied by the Minister of Aviation, Mr. Festus Keyamo, the former women leader of the APC, Stella Okotete, scores of party chieftains and supporters to the party secretariat, also ruled the possibility of him contesting the governorship of Delta state on the APC platform in the 2027 poll.

He assured that he would partner with critical stakeholders to choose an appropriate person to administer the proposed Anioma state if the bill aimed at actualizing the objective eventually scales through the legislative mill and gets the assent of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Nwoko expressed optimism that the APC which now boasts of the three serving Senators, and six state assembly members in its kitty will surely take over Delta state in the upcoming 2027 poll.

“Going forward, the APC will take over Delta State. I believe in the people, We have the people. Whatever my former party, the PDP did to record wins since 1999, I know what they did, whatever that was done in the past, we will do it now for the APC. We want a place where the Governor would be answerable and accountable to the people,” he said.

Earlier on, Ganduje described Nwoko as a big whale in the net of the APC in Delta state adding that his entry spoke volumes of the fact that the APC is growing from strength to strength across the country.

Stating that the reforms introduced by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration are already yielding good returns, he described the APC as a truly nationalistic party that believes in national integration, unity, progress, and prosperity for the people of Nigeria.

The APC chief thereby called on stakeholders in the APC in Delta to work in concert to take over Delta state in the 2027 poll.