APC Senatorial Primaries: Dafinone Defeats Omo Agege, Secures Delta Central Return Ticket

The Senator representing Delta Central Senatorial District, Ede Dafinone, has emerged as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2027 general elections after recording a landslide victory over former Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege, in the party’s senatorial primaries.

The primaries, conducted through the direct primary system under Option A4, took place across wards in the eight local government areas of Delta Central Senatorial District and were largely described by party stakeholders as peaceful, transparent and credible.

Dafinone dominated the contest across all eight local government areas, polling a total of 116,252 votes to defeat Omo-Agege, who secured 3,643 votes.

Announcing the results, the Secretary of the APC National Assembly Primary Election Committee for Delta State and Returning Officer for the election, Barr. Nusa Amagbor, said the exercise complied strictly with the party’s guidelines and affirmed that Dafinone scored the highest number of valid votes cast.

“By the powers conferred on me as the Secretary of the National Assembly Electoral Committee for Delta State, duly constituted by our National Chairman and the National Working Committee, I hereby affirm that the exercise has been successfully conducted,” he stated.

He added that Senator Dafinone, having satisfied all the requirements of the party and secured the highest number of votes, was duly declared winner of the Delta Central Senatorial District primary election.

A breakdown of the results showed that Dafinone polled 22,329 votes against Omo-Agege’s 1,873 votes in Ughelli North. In Ethiope West, Dafinone secured 7,646 votes while Omo-Agege recorded 317 votes. Sapele Local Government Area delivered 10,460 votes for Dafinone and 117 votes for Omo-Agege.

In Uvwie, Dafinone polled 20,369 votes against 377 votes recorded by Omo-Agege, while in Udu, the incumbent senator secured 11,211 votes as against 237 votes for his challenger. Ughelli South produced 12,216 votes for Dafinone and 227 votes for Omo-Agege.

In Okpe Local Government Area, Dafinone garnered 18,050 votes out of the 18,244 votes cast, while Omo-Agege scored 97 votes. Ethiope East also went in favour of the incumbent senator, who polled 13,971 votes against Omo-Agege’s 398 votes.

Reacting to the outcome, APC chieftain and founding leader of the party in Delta State, O’tega Emerhor, commended the peaceful conduct of the exercise and praised party members for their unity and maturity throughout the process.

“At the end of the day, we all embrace each other in unity. The people voted massively for Senator Ede Dafinone,” he said.

Also speaking, Mr. Samuel Marierie described the exercise as orderly and transparent, noting that the conduct of the primaries had further strengthened internal democracy within the APC in Delta Central.

In his acceptance remarks, Dafinone thanked party members and supporters across the senatorial district for the confidence reposed in him, describing the exercise as free, fair and transparent.

“Delta Central is a highly political terrain, and I want to use this opportunity to thank all those who supported me throughout our great party in achieving this victory today,” he said.

The senator also extended an olive branch to Omo-Agege and his supporters, calling for unity ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“I will also take this opportunity to call on Distinguished Senator Ovie Omo-Agege to join forces with other members of our party so that we can work together for victory in 2027 across all positions,” Dafinone added.