Delta South APC senatorial primary election results, daylight robbery, rape of democracy – Witness tells court

The Federal High Court in Abuja has been told that the purportedly collated and announced results of the Delta South All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial primary election conducted on May 18, 2026, were a daylight robbery and a rape of democracy.

A contestant in the primary election, Prince Michael Diden, on Thursday claimed that the purportedly collated results in the wards and the eight local government areas of the senatorial district were not a true reflection of the election.

Prince Diden, while testifying in his suit against the declaration of Senator Joel Onowakpo Thomas as winner of the primary election, alleged that the senator, the APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) colluded to enter falsified results in favour of Joel Onowakpo.

Led in evidence by his lawyer, Bankole Joel Akomolafe, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Diden maintained that he won the primary poll by a wide margin but was robbed during collation.

The politician told Justice Mohammed Garba Umar that he had agents in all the wards where the election took place and was supplied with ward-by-ward results by the agents.

Specifically, the contestant claimed that manipulation of results took place at the collation centre, where results were allegedly falsified by APC officials in favour of the declared winner.

Diden, a former Chairman of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), sued Senator Joel Onowakpo, accusing him of conspiring with some APC officials to falsify the results of the primary election in his favour.

The politician, who is a former Chairman of Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State, urged the court to do justice to his case by reversing the falsified results and upholding his own results as compiled from the wards to the local government areas.

Under cross-examination by Prince Lukman Fagbemi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and counsel to Senator Onowakpo, the plaintiff admitted that the election was conducted by the APC with procedures put in place to guide its conduct.

When confronted with the result prepared by the APC Electoral Committee that conducted the primary election, Diden denied ever seeing anything called the official results of the party at the end of the election.

He maintained that he was not shown any official results and that his two video recordings of the conduct of the primary election, which are billed to be watched by the court, will speak volumes and help the court arrive at a just conclusion.

Habeeb Lawal, who appeared for the APC, and Anosie Obi, who represented INEC, also cross-examined the witness on his evidence-in-chief.

Earlier, Justice Umar had admitted several exhibits tendered by lawyers for and against the suit.

At the close of the plaintiff’s case, counsel for Senator Onowakpo, Lukman Fagbemi, applied for an adjournment until July 20 to open the defence of his client.

Following the agreement of counsel, Justice Umar adjourned the matter until July 20.

Diden, in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1094/2026, is claiming that he secured the highest number of votes cast at the primary election and should be declared the APC candidate for the Delta South Senatorial District election slated for January 2027.

He is, among others, asking the court to declare him the winner of the May 18 direct primary election conducted for the selection of the APC’s candidate for next year’s senatorial election in the district, on the grounds that he scored the highest number of votes cast at the poll.

In the writ of summons filed on his behalf by his team of lawyers led by Mr Bankole Joel Akomolafe, SAN, the plaintiff accused the 1st defendant of manipulating and announcing forged and fake results.

Diden, in his statement of claim, stated that the National Working Committee of the APC, which organised the primary election, announced the established procedures for the announcement of the results of the election, including that the collation and announcement of results would be conducted exclusively at an official briefing in Abuja after the submission of all results.

He averred that, contrary to the instructions, the 1st defendant immediately ran to various media houses to pronounce himself the winner of the APC direct primary election for the Delta South Senatorial District, Delta State, thereby misinforming the public, particularly members of the senatorial district and the plaintiff.

Diden prayed for an order of the court directing INEC to accept and receive his name from the APC as the party’s candidate for the 2027 senatorial election in Delta South Senatorial District.