Court Sacks Uzodinma As APC Candidate For Imo West Senatorial District
The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State to stop presenting himself as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the Imo West Senatorial District election scheduled for January 16, 2027.
Justice Obiora Egwuatu issued the order after ruling that Uzodinma did not win the APC senatorial primary held on May 18, 2026, and monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Delivering judgment, the judge held that evidence presented before the court showed that former Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, won the majority of votes cast during the primary election.
The court consequently ordered the APC to submit Okorocha’s name to INEC as its candidate for the Imo West Senatorial District election in the 2027 general elections.
In August, Okorocha filed a suit against INEC over the commission’s publication of Uzodinma’s name as the APC candidate for the senatorial district.
Other respondents in the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1854/2026, were Uzodinma and the APC.
Politics Nigeria reports that O.J. Aboje, counsel to Okorocha, filed the originating summons at the Federal High Court in Abuja on August 13, 2026.
Okorocha served as governor of Imo State from 2011 to 2019 and represented the state in the Senate from 2019 to 2023.
He contested the APC senatorial ticket against Uzodinma in May.
Williams Kayode, chairman and returning officer of the 2026 Imo APC National Assembly Primary Election Committee, had declared Uzodinma the winner of the contest with 230,464 votes.
However, Okorocha challenged the outcome, alleging that he won the primary with 150,780 votes, while Uzodinma scored 102,158 votes.
The former governor asked the court to determine whether INEC was bound by the reports of its officials who monitored the APC primary conducted on May 18.
He also sought a determination of whether INEC acted wrongly by publishing Uzodinma’s name as the winner of the primary, citing Section 183 of the 1999 Constitution.
The provision states that a governor cannot hold another executive office or engage in paid employment while in office.
Okorocha argued that it was unconstitutional for INEC to publish Uzodinma’s name as the APC candidate when, according to him, the governor did not win the primary election.
He asked the court to nullify INEC’s publication of Uzodinma’s name and direct the commission to recognise and publish him as the party’s duly nominated candidate.
The former governor also sought an order restraining Uzodinma, the APC or any other person acting on their behalf from presenting the governor as the party’s candidate for the election.
In an affidavit attached to the suit, Amen Rochas, Okorocha’s son, alleged that Uzodinma purchased the nomination forms for the senatorial ticket despite his tenure as governor extending beyond the inauguration of the 11th Senate in June 2027.
Uzodinma began his second term as governor in January 2024, with his tenure expected to end in January 2028.
Politics Nigeria reports that the timing of the senatorial election and the inauguration of the next Senate had generated debate over whether Uzodinma would have to resign as governor if elected to the Senate in 2027.
