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The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta North Senatorial District has been thrown into deep crisis as ward chairmen from across the zone issued a blistering protest letter, condemning what they described as a “vindictive, unconstitutional and hijacked” congress process.

In the strongly worded letter addressed to the Delta State APC Chairman, Elder Omeni Sobotie, the ward chairmen accused the party leadership of imposing a so-called “consensus congress” that blatantly violates the APC constitution and deliberately sidelines long-standing party loyalists.

The protesters, drawn from the entire Delta North Senatorial District said they had become victims of an exclusionary process driven by political actors who neither built nor defended the party when it mattered most.

They alleged that individuals who openly opposed the APC during the 2023 general elections, some of whom were vice-presidential candidates on opposition platforms have now defected into the party, not out of conviction, but out of political convenience and self-interest.

According to the ward chairmen, these “new entrants” are now being imposed on the party structure to the detriment of those who stood firmly with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu during the election, even as others worked against his victory.

“We have become victims of our unflinching support for President Tinubu,” the letter stated, warning that the ongoing congress is being weaponised to weaken grassroots leaders who could resist anti-party plots ahead of the President’s re-election bid.

The chairmen further alleged that the sudden empowerment of defectors is driven by fear that entrenched ward leaders would block any attempt to undermine Tinubu’s second-term ambition from within Delta North.

In a direct challenge to the party hierarchy, the ward chairmen demanded an immediate halt to the congress process in Delta North, insisting that any credible exercise must be transparent, constitutional, and based on a clearly defined power-sharing formula between old APC members and recent defectors.

The protest letter was jointly signed by ward chairmen from Aniocha North, Aniocha South, Ika North East, Ika South, Ndokwa East, Ndokwa West, Oshimili South and Oshimili North, an unprecedented show of unity against the state party leadership.

The letter was also copied to Senator Ned Nwoko, signaling that the crisis has escalated beyond ward and state levels and could attract national attention if left unresolved.

Political observers say the protest exposes deep cracks within the APC in Delta North and raises serious questions about internal democracy, fairness, and the party’s preparedness for future elections if grievances at the grassroots continue to be ignored.