UPDATED: Court sacks Uzodinma as APC senatorial candidate for Imo West

…orders INEC to publish Okorocha’s name 

Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered Imo State Governor Hope Uzodinma to stop presenting himself as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the Imo West Senatorial District election scheduled for January 16, 2027.

The judge also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to publish the name of former Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha as the party’s candidate.

Justice Egwuatu issued the orders on Thursday after ruling that Okorocha emerged as the lawful winner of the APC primary election conducted by the party and monitored by INEC.

In his judgment, the judge held that evidence presented before the court showed that Okorocha secured the majority of lawful votes cast in the primary and should be recognised as the winner.

He consequently directed the APC to forward Okorocha’s name to INEC as its candidate for the Imo West Senatorial District seat in the 2027 general elections and ordered the commission to publish his name.

The judge held that Uzodinma’s nomination violated Sections 29 and 32 of the Electoral Act and failed to comply with the APC’s guidelines for conducting primary elections.

He declared that it was unlawful and fraudulent for the party to have forwarded Uzodinma’s name to INEC as the winner of a primary election he did not win.

The judge held, “That the publication of Hope Uzodinma’s name by INEC as the winner of the primary election is wrongful and unlawful.

“That the INEC publication of the name of Hope Uzodinma on August 1 as APC Senatorial candidate for Imo West is hereby set aside and in its place, INEC is ordered to restore the name of Rochas Okorocha”, Justice Egwuatu further held.

He also faulted INEC for accepting Uzodinma’s nomination despite what he described as overwhelming documentary evidence showing that the governor was not the lawful winner of the primary.

He declared that, “Rochas Okorocha is the lawful winner and is entitled to have his name submitted to INEC” and held that INEC was bound by the report of its own officials, which, according to him, established that Okorocha won the May 18 primary election.

Reviewing the evidence presented before the court, Justice Egwuatu questioned the authenticity and consistency of documents submitted by the APC to justify Uzodinma’s nomination.

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He said, “Majority of the documents tendered by APC to support the purported nomination of Uzodinma (3rd respondent) contradicts each other, indicating that they were clearly fabricated for the unlawful purpose of nominating the 3rd respondent as candidate.

“In view of the doubt cast on the authenticity of the documents, the court cannot ascribe probative value to the purported documents”, the judge held and added that the documents, which were signed, certified and released to Okorocha following a formal request, showed that the former governor secured the majority of lawful votes cast across the 10 local government areas in the senatorial district.

Justice Egwuatu identified discrepancies in the accounts provided by different APC officials regarding the conduct of the primary.

One document submitted by the party indicated that Option A4 was used for the exercise, while another document from a member of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) claimed that a consensus arrangement produced Uzodinma as the candidate.

A separate document from another NWC member, however, stated that a direct primary was conducted for the same election.

The judge described the conflicting accounts as significant, particularly because votes were reportedly allocated to the aspirants despite the claim that Uzodinma emerged through consensus.

He subsequently ordered the APC to forward Okorocha’s name to INEC and directed the commission to replace Uzodinma’s name with that of the former governor.

The dispute arose from conflicting claims over the outcome of the APC primary for Imo West Senatorial District ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Okorocha challenged Uzodinma’s recognition as the party’s candidate, arguing that the outcome announced in favour of the incumbent governor did not reflect the results of the primary monitored by INEC.

Uzodinma was declared the winner of the primary and recognised by INEC, which maintained that the official results showed that the governor polled 230,464 votes, while Okorocha received 1,098 votes.

Okorocha subsequently filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1854/2026, challenging the primary’s outcome and INEC’s recognition of Uzodinma as the APC candidate.

The former governor asked the court to determine whether the commission was right to recognise Uzodinma as the winner, citing the disputed primary results and other issues raised in his suit.

The suit also questioned Uzodinma’s eligibility to contest the 2027 senatorial election while serving as governor, asking the court to consider the relevant constitutional provisions.