Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, yesterday, ordered the governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, to immediately stop parading himself as the candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Imo West Senatorial election slated for January 16, 2027.
Egwuatu issued the order after holding that Uzodinma did not win the May 18 primary election conducted by APC and monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The judge, in his judgement, held that evidence presented before the court proved that former Governor Rochas Okorocha actually won majority of the votes cast at the poll, and he should be declared the candidate of APC in the Imo West Senatorial election.
Okorocha had dragged INEC, APC, and Uzodinma to court following the substitution of his name with that of Uzodinma as candidate of APC in the senatorial election.
The former governor, in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1854/2026, queried why his party should submit the name of the incumbent governor as its candidate, and why INEC should publish same after announcing him as winner of the May 18 primary election.
Among the reliefs he sought from the court included an order nullifying and setting aside the submission of the name of Uzodinma and publishing of same, for being unlawful, unconstitutional, and in breach of the electoral laws.
Okorocha also prayed the court to declare him as candidate of APC in the said election and sought an order to the electoral umpire to publish his name as the rightful candidate of APC.
Responding, INEC, APC and Uzodinma, while claiming that Uzodinma won majority of the votes cast, urged the court to dismiss the case for being statute barred.
However, delivering judgement on the matter, yesterday, Egwuatu held that the case by Okorocha was filed within the 14 days required by law. He explained that contrary to the submissions of the defendants, the date of the cause of litigation was August 1, when INEC published the name of Uzodinma as APC’s candidate, and not May 18, when the primary election was conducted, or July 14, when APC forwarded Uzodinma’s name to INEC.
The court also dismissed the defendants’ argument that Okorocha ought to have appealed the outcome of the primary, wondering how a person who won an election should challenge his own victory.
Having held that the case was justiciable and that the court had jurisdiction to entertain the suit, the court then delved into the issue of who won the primary election.
Egwuatu stated that after a thorough examination of all documents presented by the applicant and the defendants, it was obvious that Okorocha won the May 18 primary but was denied the victory.
According to the judge, the documents presented by the defendants showing Uzodinma won the primary election were “fabricated”.
The court, in addition, described the action of the defendants as “an afterthought”, because the “respondents’ documents were made up after it became clear that the applicant won the primary”.
Egwuatu 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.”
Dismissing allegations that Okorocha forged INEC documents, the court observed that the respondents did not present the authentic documents to substantiate the allegation of forgery.
Egwuatu further faulted APC for refusing to provide Okorocha with the INEC form to complete as candidate of APC for Imo West Senatorial District, despite several requests by the applicant.
