LAGOS JANUARY 28TH (URHOBOTODAY)-The battle for the soul of Delta North Senatorial seat in 2023 has started in earnest as Prince Ned Nwoko and incumbent senator representing the district, Chief Peter Nwaoboshi, are set to slug it out with Governor Ifeanyi Okowa.

Nwaoboshi defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), having realized that Okowa had secured the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for himself. If Nwaoboshi does not join forces as deputy, with the Deputy Senate President, Chief Ovie Omo-Agege, on APC platform for the 2023 governorship race, Okowa would have him to contend with for the senatorial race.

Okowa represented the district and became the chairman of the Senate Committee on Health between 2019 and 2015. But Ned Nwoko, who had represented the Aniocha/Oshimili Federal constituency between 1999 and 2003 and had contested for the senatorial seat under the defunct Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) and PDP but lost to Nwaoboshi at primary election in 2019, has prepared for the race again.

The Anioma Youth Forum (AYF), an umbrella body of youths in the Igbo-speaking localities in the state, has called on Ned to formerly declare his ambition. The group, in their “Anioma Nation needs Ned Nwoko in the Senate come 2023” campaign, which has allegedly triggered tension in the camp of Okowa, said Ned is capable of bringing healthy 21st century development to bear on the senatorial district through his well-known potential across the world to give Anioma nation quality and practical representation at the National Assembly.

They recalled how he excelled by articulating the voice of his people at the lower chamber and attracted a lot of dividends of democracy in 1999. They lamented what they termed “empty representation” which has left Anioma stagnated, developmentally void and visibly deprived of tangible benefits.

News Telegraph