Uzodimma to Appeal Court Ruling Recognising Okorocha as APC’s Imo West Candidate

Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma has said he will appeal a Federal High Court judgement recognising his predecessor, Rochas Okorocha, as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Imo West Senatorial District in the 2027 elections.

The governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Oguike Nwachuku, described the ruling as a “travesty of justice” and said the governor was confident it would be overturned by the Court of Appeal.

“Obviously, the Governor will appeal the judgement which is a travesty of justice,” Nwachuku told PREMIUM TIMES on Friday while responding to questions about Okorocha’s allegations concerning the disputed APC senatorial primary.

The response followed Okorocha’s appearance on Arise News’ Prime Time programme, where he claimed to remain the dominant political figure in the APC in Imo State. He also accused Uzodimma’s camp of relying on documents containing irregularities to secure the party’s senatorial ticket.

Okorocha had argued that his political structure remained influential in the state, declaring that “the structure of APC in Imo State is Rochas”. He also alleged discrepancies in documents relating to the primary, including the date of the exercise, its description as a consensus arrangement and result sheets he claimed were completed by one person across 144 wards and 12 local government areas.

Nwachuku rejected the allegations, insisting that Uzodimma won the Imo West primary after Okorocha declined to accept the consensus arrangement adopted in the other two senatorial districts. He said political stakeholders in Owerri Zone and Okigwe Zone adopted consensus arrangements that produced Prince Alex Mbata and Senator Patrick Ndubueze for Imo East and Imo North, respectively.

According to the spokesperson, Okorocha chose to contest against Uzodimma in a direct primary conducted across the 12 local government areas of Imo West. He claimed the governor secured 230,464 votes, compared with 1,098 votes for the former governor. Nwachuku said INEC officials were present, while the APC National Assembly Primary Election Committee, chaired by retired Rear Admiral Williams Kayoda, supervised the exercise.

The spokesperson also disputed Okorocha’s claim to control the APC structure in the state, arguing that the party’s rules recognise sitting governors as leaders of the party in their respective states. He maintained that Uzodimma remained the party’s leader in Imo, while President Bola Tinubu was its national leader.

Nwachuku accused Okorocha of working against the party’s interests by challenging the primary result and dismissed the former governor’s celebration of the court judgement. He also criticised Okorocha’s eight-year administration in Imo State, describing it as a family system of government. These remarks represent the governor’s camp’s position in the political dispute.

The Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice Obiora Egwuatu, had ruled in Okorocha’s favour in the dispute over the APC’s Imo West senatorial primary. The court declared him the party’s validly nominated candidate and directed INEC to recognise him for the 2027 election.

The suit followed Okorocha’s challenge to INEC’s recognition of Uzodimma as the winner of the party’s 18 May primary. Okorocha said he obtained certified copies of relevant documents from INEC on 26 July 2026, while documents supporting Uzodimma’s emergence were submitted to the commission on 22 August.

He alleged that the documents contained inconsistencies, including differences in the stated date of the primary and the description of Uzodimma’s emergence as a consensus candidate. He also questioned how result sheets covering more than 300 polling units across 144 wards and 12 local government areas could allegedly have been completed by one person.

Okorocha further questioned the certification of documents relating to the primary, claiming that the document supporting his position was certified by INEC, while the one backing Uzodimma was certified by the APC. The governor’s camp has rejected the allegations, maintaining that the primary was properly conducted under the supervision of INEC officials and the party’s national election committee.

The APC had also indicated that it would study the judgement and pursue available legal options. The dispute adds another chapter to the political rivalry between Uzodimma and Okorocha, who governed Imo State from 2011 to 2019 before representing Imo West in the Senate from 2019 to 2023.