A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remove the name of Imo State governor, Hope Uzodinma, as the Senatorial candidate for Imo West. The court specifically asked INEC to replace Uzodinma as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) with the name of former governor Rochas Okorocha. This decision was made after the court held that Uzodinma did not win the May 18 primary election conducted by the APC and monitored by INEC.
According to the court, evidence presented before it proved that Okorocha actually won the majority of the votes cast at the poll and should be published as the winner of the election. Justice Obiora Egwuatu gave the order after reviewing the evidence presented before the court. The judge held 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.
The court also restrained 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. The judge declared that Okorocha emerged as the lawful winner of the primary and ordered the APC to forward Okorocha’s name as the candidate of the APC in the 2027 general elections for Imo West Senatorial election.
The dispute arose from conflicting claims over the outcome of the APC primary for the 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 result 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.
However, a separate document subsequently circulated, purporting to show that Okorocha won the primary with 150,780 votes. Okorocha filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1854/2026, challenging the outcome of the primary and INEC’s recognition of Uzodimma as the party’s candidate. The former governor asked the court to determine whether INEC was right to recognise Uzodimma as the winner, relying on the disputed primary results and other issues raised in his suit.
The judge questioned the authenticity and consistency of documents submitted by the APC to justify Uzodimma’s nomination. He said that the majority of the documents tendered by APC to support the purported nomination of Uzodimma contradicted each other, indicating that they were clearly fabricated for the unlawful purpose of nominating Uzodimma as the candidate. The judge also faulted INEC for accepting Uzodimma’s nomination despite overwhelming documentary evidence showing that the governor was not the lawful winner of the primary.
INEC had slated Presidential, Senatorial and House of Representatives elections for January 16, 2027. The commission is now expected to comply with the court’s order and replace Uzodinma’s name with that of Okorocha. The development is likely to have significant implications for the APC and the 2027 general elections in Imo State.
Key points
- The court ruled that Uzodinma did not win the APC primary election.
- Okorocha was declared the lawful winner of the primary election.
- INEC is ordered to replace Uzodinma’s name with Okorocha’s on the ballot.
