Court sacks Uzodinma as APC candidate
A Federal High Court in Abuja has disqualified Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma from presenting himself as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Imo West Senatorial District in the 2027 general elections.
Justice Obiora Egwuatu gave the order on Thursday, October 29, after ruling that the evidence presented before the court showed that Uzodimma did not win the APC senatorial primary election.
The judge held that former Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha secured the highest number of votes in the primary and should have been declared the winner.
Okorocha, who governed Imo State from 2011 to 2019, had approached the court to challenge the process that led to Uzodimma’s recognition as the APC candidate for the senatorial district.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1854/2026, was filed in August 2026. In the case, the former governor asked the court to determine whether the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was required to accept the reports submitted by its officials who monitored the APC primary held on May 18.
Okorocha questioned the decision to publish Uzodimma’s name as the winner of the primary, insisting that the outcome of the exercise did not support his recognition as the party’s candidate.
He also asked the court to determine whether INEC acted lawfully by publishing Uzodimma’s name despite the reports of the officials who monitored the election.
The former governor further cited Section 183 of the 1999 Constitution, which bars a sitting governor from holding another executive office or paid employment while in office.
Based on this provision, Okorocha asked the court to declare that INEC’s decision to recognise Uzodimma as the APC candidate was unconstitutional.
In May, Williams Kayode, chairman and returning officer of the committee responsible for the APC’s 2026 National Assembly primaries in Imo State, had announced Uzodimma as the winner of the contest with 230,464 votes.
However, Justice Egwuatu’s ruling challenges that declaration, with the court finding that the evidence presented showed that Okorocha received the majority of votes cast during the primary.
Uzodimma began his second term as Imo State governor in January 2024, and his tenure is expected to end in January 2028.
The 11th National Assembly is scheduled to be inaugurated in June 2027, more than six months before the end of Uzodimma’s current term as governor.
