COURT FAVOURS OKOROCHA AGAINST UZODINMA
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 candidate.
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.
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.
The development also places the party and INEC at the centre of the next steps required to implement the court’s orders.
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.
Thursday’s ruling represents a significant turn in that contest, although any subsequent appeal or further judicial proceedings could affect the legal trajectory of the dispute.
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.
