Imo State governor, Hope Uzodinma, has been disqualified as the All Progressives Congress (APC) Senatorial candidate for Imo West.
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja ruled against his candidacy on Thursday and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remove him as the rightful winner of the primary election that produced him.
The court ruled that former governor Rochas Okorocha, not Uzodinma, won the election, and ordered the electoral umpire to replace the former with the latter as the APC senatorial candidate for Imo West.
Delivering the verdict, Justice Obiora Egwuatu held that Uzodinma did not win the May 18 primary election conducted by the APC and monitored by INEC.
The judge asserted that evidence presented before the court showed that Okorocha actually won the majority of the votes cast at the poll and should be recognised and published as the winner of the election.
The court also barred Uzodimma from parading himself as the APC senatorial candidate for the January 16, 2027 election, holding that he did not win the party’s May 18, 2026 primary.
Egwuatu subsequently ordered the APC to forward Okorocha’s name as candidate of the APC in the 2027 general elections for the Imo West Senatorial election, stressing that the nomination of Uzodimma breached Sections 29 and 32 of the Electoral Act and failed to comply with the APC’s guidelines for conducting primary elections.
He consequently declared that it was illegal and dubious for the party to have sent Uzodimma’s name to INEC as the winner of a primary election he did not win.
The judge held, “That the publication of Hope Uzodimma’s name by INEC as the winner of the primary election is wrongful and unlawful.”
He further ruled, “That the INEC publication of the name of Hope Uzodimma 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 also faulted INEC for accepting Uzodimma’s nomination despite what he described as overwhelming documentary evidence showing that the governor was not the lawful winner of the primary.
He declared, “Rochas Okorocha is the lawful winner and is entitled to have his name submitted to INEC.”
The judge held that INEC was bound by the report of its own officials, which, according to him, clearly established that Okorocha won the May 18 primary.
In reviewing the evidence presented before the court, Justice Egwuatu questioned the authenticity and consistency of documents submitted by the APC to justify Uzodimma’s nomination.
He said, “The majority of the documents tendered by APC to support the purported nomination of Uzodimma (3rd respondent) contradict 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 said documents signed, certified and released to Okorocha following a formal request showed that the former governor secured the majority of lawful votes cast in the primary across the 10 local government areas that make up the senatorial district.
He identified disparities and inconsistencies in the accounts given by different APC officials regarding how the primary was conducted.
According to the judge, 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 claimed that a consensus arrangement produced Uzodimma as the candidate.
Justice Egwuatu said another document from a different NWC member, however, claimed that a direct primary was conducted for the same election.
He described the conflicting accounts as significant, particularly because votes were reportedly allocated to the aspirants despite the claim that Uzodimma emerged through consensus.
The judge therefore ordered the APC to forward Okorocha’s name to INEC and directed the commission to replace Uzodimma’s name with that of the former governor.
The dispute followed conflicting reports over the outcome of the APC primary for the Imo West Senatorial District ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Okorocha challenged Uzodimma’s recognition as the party’s candidate, arguing that the outcome announced in favour of the incumbent governor did not reflect the result of the primary monitored by INEC.
Uzodimma 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.
However, a separate document subsequently circulated, purporting to show that Okorocha won the primary with 150,780 votes.
