Delta, one of Nigeria’s biggest oil producers, with Urhobo, Ijaw, Itsekiri, Isoko and Igbo-speaking Anioma communities, was a PDP state for 26 years. The party won every governorship election from 1999 to 2023, and the debate over which ethnic bloc and senatorial district should produce the governor has often mattered more than the opposition. In April 2025 the sitting governor and his predecessor moved the whole PDP machine into the APC.
1999 and 2003: Ibori
James Onanefe Ibori, a businessman, won the January 1999 election for the PDP with 558,332 votes. He was re-elected in April 2003 with 1,038,607 votes, beating the ANPP’s Lucky Oghene Omoru. After leaving office he fled to Dubai to escape corruption charges, was extradited to Britain and in 2012 pleaded guilty in a London court to fraud and money laundering linked to his time as governor. He was sentenced to 13 years. He remained a powerful figure in Delta politics after his release.
2007 to 2011: Uduaghan, a rerun and a close call
Ibori’s cousin, Emmanuel Uduaghan, a doctor and former Secretary to the State Government, won in April 2007 with 1,004,043 votes against 46,809 for Great Ogboru of the Democratic People’s Party. The Court of Appeal annulled the result in 2010, and Uduaghan won the rerun on 6 January 2011 with 275,253 votes to Ogboru’s 138,244. Three months later, in the general election of 26 April 2011, the two met again, and Uduaghan won by 525,793 to 433,834, the closest Delta governorship race to date.
2015 and 2019: Okowa
Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, the first governor from the Anioma (Delta North) district, beat Uduaghan’s preferred candidate in the 2014 PDP primary and won on 11 April 2015 with 724,680 votes against 130,028 for Ogboru, then of the Labour Party. In March 2019 he was re-elected with 925,274 votes (80%), winning 23 of the 25 local governments, against 215,938 for Ogboru, by then the APC candidate. In 2022 Okowa became Atiku Abubakar’s running mate for the presidency.
2023: the Speaker against the Deputy Senate President
The PDP nominated Sheriff Oborevwori, the Speaker of the state assembly, after a court fight over his nomination that ended when the Court of Appeal reinstated him in August 2022. On 18 March 2023 he beat the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege of the APC, by 360,234 votes (53.6%) to 240,229 (35.8%). The Labour Party’s Ken Pela polled 48,027. The Supreme Court affirmed Oborevwori’s election.
The results at a glance
| Year | Winner (party) | Votes | Runner-up (party) | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | James Ibori (PDP) | 558,332 | APP candidate | not published |
| 2003 | James Ibori (PDP) | 1,038,607 | Lucky Oghene Omoru (ANPP) | not published |
| 2007 | Emmanuel Uduaghan (PDP), annulled | 1,004,043 | Great Ogboru (DPP) | 46,809 |
| Jan 2011 rerun | Emmanuel Uduaghan (PDP) | 275,253 | Great Ogboru (DPP) | 138,244 |
| Apr 2011 | Emmanuel Uduaghan (PDP) | 525,793 | Great Ogboru (DPP) | 433,834 |
| 2015 | Ifeanyi Okowa (PDP) | 724,680 | Great Ogboru (LP) | 130,028 |
| 2019 | Ifeanyi Okowa (PDP) | 925,274 | Great Ogboru (APC) | 215,938 |
| 2023 | Sheriff Oborevwori (PDP) | 360,234 | Ovie Omo-Agege (APC) | 240,229 |
2027: Oborevwori on the APC ticket
In April 2025 Oborevwori and Okowa led the Delta PDP, including most of its lawmakers and local government chairmen, into the APC. In May 2026 Oborevwori won the APC governorship primary for the 6 February 2027 election, and in the same exercise Omo-Agege lost the party’s Delta Central Senate ticket.
