…He is our candidate—APC
CITIZENS COMPASS— The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday, sacked Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, as the candidate representing Imo West senatorial District under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2027 general elections.
The judgement replaced him with a former governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha.
In a judgement, Judge Obiora Egwuatu ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to publish the name of Mr Okorocha, a former governor of the state who was previously elected to represent the district in the Nigerian Senate, as the validly nominated candidate of the APC for the upcoming senatorial election.
The judge ordered the APC to forward Mr Okorocha’s name as candidate of the party for the 2027 general elections for Imo West Senatorial District.
Mr Egwuatu issued the orders in a suit filed by Mr Okorocha challenging Mr Uzodimma’s nomination.
The judge ruled that sufficient evidence provided by Mr Okorocha showed that he, and not Mr Uzodimma, won the 18 May APC primary election monitored by INEC.
Mr Uzodimma reserves the right to appeal the judgement in the case which is likely to reach the Supreme Court for ultimate resolution.
Mr Okorocha previously served as a senator representing the Imo West senatorial district from June 2019 to June 2023 during the 9th Nigerian Senate.
Uzodimma is the chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum, a peer-review group of APC governors, to stop parading himself as the APC candidate for the 16 January 2027 election.
His election to the senate followed his eight years as governor between May 2011 and May 2019.
He is in his second and final four-year term as governor, which should run till January 2028. If he eventually prevails in the senatorial contest, he must resign as governor and forfeit the remaining six months of his tenure to take up the senatorial seat.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Okorocha, in his suit, challenged the INEC over the publication of Mr Uzodinma’s name as APC’s candidate for the Imo West Senatorial District.
Mr Okorocha filed the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1854/2026 on 13 August, joining INEC, APC and Mr Uzodinma as respondents.
He urged the court to determine whether INEC was not bound by the reports of its officers who monitored the APC primary election duly conducted on 18 May for the nomination of its candidate for the Imo West Senatorial District for the 2027 general elections in which he emerged the winner.
He also prayed the court to hold that the publication of Mr Uzodinma’s name by INEC on 1 August as winner of APC primary for the Imo West Senatorial District for the 2027 poll was wrongful.
Mr Okorocha urged the court to, among his 10 prayers, declare that it was unlawful for the party to forward MrUzodinma’s name to INEC.
He urged the court to declare that it was unconstitutional for INEC to publish, as done on 18 August, Mr Uzodinma’s name as APC’s candidate when it was not him that emerged as the winner of the primary election conducted on 18 May.
He sought an order setting aside or voiding the publication made by INEC on Aug. 1 which declared Uzodinma as the person that won the highest votes in the APC’s primary election held on May 18 to contest as the preferred candidate for Imo West Senatorial District come 2027.
Mr Okorocha prayed the court for an order directing INEC to recognise and publish his name as the duly nominated candidate of APC to contest the poll.
He also sought an order prohibiting Mr Uzodinma whether by himself or through the APC or anyone, however named, from parading himself as the nominated candidate of the party to contest the election.
He equally sought an order awarding cost against the respondents as the noble court may deem appropriate in all the circumstances of the suit.
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Imo State has insisted that Governor Hope Uzodimma remains its candidate for Imo West Senatorial District in the 2027 elections.
APC State Publicity Secretary, Onwuasoanya Jones, disclosed this in a statement in reaction to the judgment.
APC in the statement said Uzodimma remained its candidate, having won the party’s primary with the support of the majority of its members.
The Party wishes to state without any confusion that His Excellency, Distinguished Senator Hope Uzodimma, CON, remains the candidate of our Party for Imo West Senatorial District, having won the primaries of our great Party with the overwhelming support of the majority of our Party members,” the statement read.
“The Party’s legal department shall study the outcome of a legal intervention in this matter and act accordingly,” it said.
The APC also urged its members and supporters to remain focused and committed to securing victories across the state’s constituencies.
