The Director-General of the Rt. Hon. Victor Ochei Campaign Council, Hon. Gift Okwuolise, Ph.D., has declared that former Governor and Senator Ifeanyi Okowa left the Ndokwa/Ukwuani Federal Constituency and much of Delta North in darkness and neglect despite holding power for 12 years. He expressed confidence that Rt. Hon. Victor Ochei will defeat Okowa in the 2027 senatorial election.
In a strongly worded statement, Hon. Okwuolise, who was the 2023 Labour Party House of Representatives candidate, said Okowa’s combined tenure as Senator representing Delta North and Governor of Delta State produced little meaningful change for the people who bore the burden of his political rise. He described the unfulfilled Okpai Independent Power Plant step-down project as the starkest symbol of that failure.
According to him, a major national power facility located on Ndokwa soil has, for nearly two decades, generated electricity that lights up distant states and the Federal Capital Territory, while host communities and the federal constituency remain without the step-down facility that would bring them reliable electricity.
“As Governor for eight years, Okowa had every opportunity to prioritise the Okpai step-down project and end the darkness. He never did,” Hon. Okwuolise stated. “That is not oversight; it is abandonment of the people who expected and deserved better.”
Beyond electricity, Hon. Okwuolise pointed to what he described as broader governance failures. He said insecurity continues to threaten farmers and rural communities, critical access roads remain in poor condition, young people lack meaningful economic opportunities, and federal presence in infrastructure and development has remained limited.
According to him, political calculations and the preservation of personal and family interests replaced the delivery of tangible improvements in the lives of ordinary citizens across Delta North.
Hon. Okwuolise contrasted this record with the new direction being pursued by Rt. Hon. Victor Ochei, former Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, under the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).
He noted that Ochei has advanced a practical agenda focused on securing farms, fixing roads, pursuing the Okpai step-down project and wider electricity access, developing agro-industrial clusters, creating jobs, attracting private investment, and promoting a politics of competence rather than patronage.
The Campaign Director-General added that Ochei’s grassroots consultations across Aniocha, Oshimili and Ndokwa communities, alongside what he described as growing support and defections, show that the people are ready to reject the old order.
“His victory over Okowa is not a hope; it is a certainty. Delta North has seen twelve years of the same politics and is prepared for the New Direction,” he said.
Hon. Okwuolise, Ph.D., called on voters across Delta North, particularly in the Ndokwa/Ukwuani Federal Constituency, to vote for the Nigeria Democratic Congress at all levels, beginning with the presidential election.
He urged voters to support the NDC presidential candidate, H.E. Mr. Peter Obi, CON; Rt. Hon. Victor Ochei for the Senate; Dr. Ugochukwu Nwokolo (Overdo), candidate for the House of Representatives, and all NDC candidates contesting for seats in the Delta State House of Assembly.
“The time has come to end the darkness and the myth,” Hon. Okwuolise concluded. “Vote NDC from the Presidency downward. Rt. Hon. Victor Ochei and the NDC offer the leadership that will work for the people, not for itself.”
