By Barth Ikiebe
The Federal High Court in Abuja has nullified the emergence of Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the Imo West Senatorial District in the 2027 general election, directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise former Governor Rochas Okorocha as the party’s nominee.
Justice Obiora Egwuatu, who delivered the judgment on Thursday, October 29, 2026 held that the evidence before the court established that Uzodimma did not emerge as the valid winner of the APC senatorial primary conducted on May 18, 2026.
The judge ruled that Okorocha secured the highest number of votes at the primary and was therefore entitled to the party’s ticket.
Consequently, the court ordered INEC to recognise and publish Okorocha’s name as the APC candidate for the Imo West senatorial election scheduled for January 16, 2027.
The court also restrained Uzodimma from presenting himself as the party’s candidate for the election, dealing a major setback to the governor ’s plan to return to the Senate after his tenure in Imo state.
The legal battle followed the APC ’s May 18 primary election to determine its candidate for Imo West, also known as Orlu Senatorial District.
Both Uzodimma and Okorocha, who governed Imo state from 2011 to 2019 and represented Imo West in the Senate from 2019 to 2023, contested the party’s ticket.
After the exercise, INEC published Uzodimma’s name as the winner of the primary, a decision Okorocha challenged in court.
In a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1854/2026, filed on August 13, 2026, the former governor asked the court to determine whether INEC was bound by reports allegedly submitted by its officials who monitored the primary election.
Okorocha argued that the commission’s publication of Uzodimma as the winner contradicted the outcome recorded in the reports he relied upon.
He consequently sought an order setting aside the publication and directing INEC to recognise him as the duly nominated APC candidate.
The suit joined INEC, the APC and Uzodimma as respondents.
The controversy over the primary was fuelled by sharply conflicting accounts of the votes recorded by the two aspirants.
In the affidavit supporting Okorocha’s case, his son and Personal Assistant on Political Matters, Amen Rochas, alleged that his father won the primary with 150,780 votes, while Uzodimma scored 102,158.
However, the governor’s camp disputed that account.
Lucky Ajokperiniovo, who identified himself as a member of the APC committee that conducted the primary, told the court that votes were recorded and collated from the wards through local government collation centres before the final result was declared.
According to his counter-affidavit, Uzodimma won with 230,464 votes, while Okorocha received 1,098 votes.
Ajokperiniovo maintained that the committee’s report was signed by its members on May 18 and that the primary substantially complied with the APC’s constitution, its guidelines and the Electoral Act, 2026.
He also said the party’s appeal committee did not receive any petition challenging the outcome of the exercise.
The court, however, ruled that the evidence before it established that Okorocha was the valid winner of the primary.
INEC had earlier defended Uzodimma’s nomination
Before Thursday’s judgment, INEC had maintained that Uzodimma won the APC primary and asked security agencies to investigate a document circulating on social media that named Okorocha as the winner.
In letters dated October 5 and 8, 2026, Imo Resident Electoral Commissioner Chukwuemeka Ibeziako asked the Department of State Services and the police to investigate the document, which the commission described as fictitious.
INEC said the report in its possession identified Uzodimma as the winner of the May 18 exercise.
The commission also opposed Okorocha’s suit at the Federal High Court, arguing that its officials monitored the primary and reported that the governor scored the highest number of votes.
It further stated that it had not received complaints from aspirants concerning the conduct or outcome of the exercise.
The dispute therefore placed the commission’s position on the primary under judicial scrutiny, with the court ultimately ruling in favour of Okorocha.
APC and Uzodimma had challenged the suit
During the proceedings, Uzodimma and the APC filed separate preliminary objections seeking the dismissal of Okorocha’s case.
Their lawyers argued that the suit was statute-barred because it was not filed within the 14-day period prescribed under Section 285(9) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
The governor and the party maintained that the action was instituted outside the period allowed by law.
Okorocha, however, urged the court to grant the reliefs he sought, including setting aside INEC’s recognition of Uzodimma and compelling the commission to publish his name as the APC candidate.
After the parties presented their arguments, Justice Egwuatu fixed October 29 for judgment.
The court subsequently ruled in Okorocha’s favour, nullifying Uzodimma’s emergence as the party’s nominee and ordering INEC to recognise the former governor.
Okorocha, who previously represented the district in the Senate, has now been recognised by the court as the rightful winner of the party’s primary, while Uzodimma has been barred from continuing to present himself as the nominee.
Uzodimma became Governor of Imo State in January 2020 and is serving his second term. His bid for the Senate had set up a contest with his predecessor over the APC ticket for the same senatorial district.
For now, the Federal High Court has directed INEC to recognise Okorocha as the APC candidate for Imo West in the January 16, 2027 Senatorial election.
Court Orders INEC To Recognise Okorocha For Imo West Senatorial Seat; Sacks Uzodinma
