From Victor Osula, Abuja
The Federal High Court in Abuja has nullified the nomination of Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Imo West Senatorial District in the 2027 general election and ordered the party to forward the name of former governor Rochas Okorocha to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the rightful candidate.
Justice Obiora Egwuatu, in a judgment delivered on Thursday, held that the evidence before the court established that Okorocha won the APC senatorial primary election conducted on May 18, 2026, and directed that he be recognised as the party’s candidate for the Imo West seat.
The judge also ordered Uzodimma to stop parading himself as the APC’s nominated candidate for the senatorial district.
The judgment followed a suit instituted by Okorocha, who challenged INEC’s publication of Uzodimma’s name as the winner of the party’s primary election and its candidate for the 2027 National Assembly election.
Okorocha, a former governor of Imo State and former senator representing Imo West, had asked the court to determine whether INEC was bound by the reports submitted by its officials who monitored the APC primary.
He argued that the electoral commission acted unlawfully by publishing Uzodimma’s name despite reports which, according to him, established that he won the primary.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1854/2026, was filed on August 13, 2026, with INEC, the APC and Uzodimma listed as the first, second and third respondents, respectively.
In his originating summons, Okorocha sought orders setting aside INEC’s publication of Uzodimma as the winner of the primary and directing the commission to recognise and publish his name as the duly nominated APC candidate for Imo West Senatorial District.
He also sought an order restraining Uzodimma, the APC or any other person acting on their behalf from presenting the governor as the party’s candidate for the election.
Okorocha relied on provisions of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, the Electoral Act 2026 and the APC’s rules and guidelines governing the conduct of its primaries.
In an affidavit supporting the suit, Amen Rochas, the former governor’s son and personal assistant on political matters, said Okorocha was a registered and financially up-to-date member of the APC from Ideato Local Government Area of Imo State.
He stated that his father, who governed Imo State from 2011 to 2019 and represented Imo West in the Senate from 2019 to 2023, purchased and submitted the required expression of interest and nomination forms to contest the senatorial seat.
According to the affidavit, Uzodimma and other aspirants also obtained nomination forms and were screened and cleared to participate in the direct primary election.
Amen alleged that the APC’s National Working Committee, through its National Organising Secretary, issued a directive on May 17, 2026, warning state chairmen of the party’s National Assembly Primary Election Committees against announcing the results publicly, directing that the results be forwarded to the party’s national secretariat for announcement.
He claimed that the primary was conducted on May 18 and that Okorocha secured 150,780 votes against Uzodimma’s 102,158 votes.
He further stated that the APC submitted reports on the conduct and outcome of the primary to INEC, including a report prepared by the commission’s officials who monitored the exercise in Imo State.
According to him, INEC did not publish the outcome until August 1, when it listed Uzodimma as the winner, prompting Okorocha to approach the court.
However, Uzodimma, the APC and INEC disputed Okorocha’s claims and urged the court to dismiss the suit.
The governor and the APC filed separate preliminary objections, arguing that the action was statute-barred because it was not instituted within the 14 days prescribed under Section 285(9) of the 1999 Constitution.
Their lawyers, Robert Emukpoeruo, SAN, for the APC, and Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, for Uzodimma, maintained that the suit was filed outside the constitutionally prescribed time limit.
In a counter-affidavit filed on behalf of the governor, Lucky Ajokperiniovo, who said he was a member of the committee constituted by the APC to conduct the primary, gave a different account of the exercise.
He stated that votes were recorded, collated and transmitted from the wards to the local government collation centres before being forwarded to the senatorial district returning officer for final collation and declaration.
Ajokperiniovo claimed that Uzodimma won the Imo West primary with 230,464 votes, while Okorocha scored 1,098 votes.
He added that Alex Mbata won the APC primary for Imo East Senatorial District, while Senator Patrick Ndubueze emerged victorious in Imo North.
According to him, the results were recorded in a report signed by members of the electoral committee on May 18, 2026, and no aspirant was in doubt about the outcome of the exercise.
He also said an appeal committee constituted by the party did not receive any petition challenging the primary election.
The APC official maintained that the exercise was conducted in substantial compliance with the party’s constitution, its electoral guidelines and the Electoral Act 2026.
INEC also opposed Okorocha’s suit, adopting its counter-affidavit through its lawyer, M.A. Umar.
In its response, the commission said its officials monitored the APC primary and submitted a report indicating that Uzodimma scored the highest number of votes and was declared the winner.
INEC further stated that it did not receive any complaint from the aspirants concerning the outcome of the primary.
Gyang Dung, an assistant chief legal officer who deposed to the commission’s counter-affidavit, also denied signing any of the exhibits tendered by Okorocha in support of his case.
Despite the objections and conflicting accounts of the primary election, Justice Egwuatu ruled in favour of Okorocha, nullifying Uzodimma’s nomination and directing the APC to submit the former governor’s name to INEC as its candidate for Imo West Senatorial District in the 2027 general election.
