A Federal High Court in Abuja has declared former Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, the winner of the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election for Imo West Senatorial District, ordering incumbent Governor Hope Uzodinma to stop presenting himself as the party’s candidate for the 2027 general election.
Justice Obiora Egwuatu, who delivered the judgment on Thursday, October 29, 2026, held that evidence before the court established that Okorocha won the majority of votes cast during the APC primary conducted on May 18.
The judge consequently ordered the APC to forward Okorocha’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as its duly nominated candidate for the Imo West Senatorial District election scheduled for January 16, 2027.
The court also directed INEC to recognise and publish Okorocha’s name as the party’s candidate for the election.
Justice Egwuatu further held that documents relied upon in nominating Uzodinma were fabricated and violated provisions of the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act.
The judgment represents a major setback for Uzodinma’s senatorial ambition and overturns the recognition previously given to him as the APC candidate for the Orlu Zone senatorial seat.
Recall that Okorocha had instituted a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja, challenging INEC’s recognition of Uzodinma as the APC candidate for Imo West Senatorial District ahead of the 2027 general election.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1854/2026, was filed on August 13, 2026, with INEC, Uzodinma and the APC listed as respondents.
Okorocha, who governed Imo State from 2011 to 2019 and represented Imo West in the Senate from 2019 to 2023, maintained that he won the APC primary conducted on May 18 and asked the court to compel INEC to recognise him as the party’s candidate.
The dispute arose after the APC’s primary election committee declared Uzodinma the winner with 230,464 votes, while Okorocha was credited with 1,098 votes in the result recognised by INEC.
However, a separate document subsequently emerged, purportedly showing Okorocha as the winner with 150,780 votes, triggering controversy over the authenticity of the primary election results.
On October 10, INEC’s Imo State office petitioned the Department of State Services and the Nigeria Police Force over the disputed document, describing it as fictitious and urging an investigation into its circulation.
The commission maintained that the authentic report submitted to its national headquarters identified Uzodinma as the winner of the primary.
Okorocha also challenged the legality of INEC’s recognition of Uzodinma, arguing that the governor’s tenure would still be running when the next Senate was inaugurated in 2027.
The court had fixed October 29 for judgment after lawyers representing the parties adopted their processes and presented their arguments.
Uzodinma, who began his second term as Imo State governor in January 2024, is expected to complete his tenure in January 2028.
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