A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Thursday 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 the electoral umpire to replace Uzodinma as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) with the name of former governor Rochas Okorocha
Justice Obiora Egwuatu gave the order after holding that Uzodinma did not win the May 18 primary election conducted by the APC and monitored by INEC
Daily Trust reports that the INEC had slated Presidential, Senatorial and House of Representatives elections for January 16, 2027
Delivering his judgment, the judge held that evidence presented before the court proved that Okorocha actually won the majority of the votes cast at the poll and should be published as the winner of the election
Egwuatu subsequently ordered the APC to forward Okorocha’s name as candidate of the APC in the 2027 general elections for Imo West Senatorial election
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, while declaring that Okorocha emerged as the lawful winner of the primary, 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
He consequently declared that it was unlawful and fraudulent for the party to have forwarded 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, “Majority of the documents tendered by APC to support the purported nomination of Uzodimma (3rd respondent) contradicts 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 discrepancies 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 subsequently 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 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 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 the 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 the commission was right to recognise Uzodimma as the winner, relying on the disputed primary results and other issues raised in his suit
The suit also raised questions about Uzodimma’s eligibility to contest the 2027 senatorial election while serving as governor, with Okorocha asking the court to consider the relevant constitutional provisions