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The Federal High Court in Abuja has quashed the emergence of Imo State governor Hope Uzodimma as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Imo West senatorial district in the 2027 general elections, ordering the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognize former governor Rochas Okorocha as the party’s candidate.
Justice Obiora Egwuatu, who delivered the judgment on Thursday, October 29, 2026, found that the evidence before the court established that Uzodimma had not emerged as the valid winner of the APC senatorial primaries conducted on May 18, 2026. Blueprint Reports
The judge ruled that Okorocha had secured the highest number of votes in the primaries and was therefore entitled to the party ticket.
Accordingly, the court ordered INEC to recognize and publish the name of Okorocha as the APC candidate for the Imo West senatorial elections scheduled for January 16, 2027.
The court also barred Uzodimma from standing as the party’s candidate in the elections, creating a major obstacle to the governor’s plan to return to the Senate after his tenure in Imo State.
How the dispute began
The legal battle followed the APC’s May 18 primary elections to determine its candidate for Imo West, also known as Orlu Senatorial District.
Both Uzodimma and Okorocha, who governed Imo State from 2011 to 2019 and represented Imo West in the Senate from 2019 to 2023, contested the party’s nomination.
After the exercise, INEC released Uzodimma’s name as the winner of the primaries, a decision which Okorocha challenged in court.
In a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1854/2026, filed on August 13, 2026, the former governor asked the court to determine whether INEC was bound by reports allegedly submitted by its officials who monitored the primary elections.
Okorocha argued that the commission’s publication of Uzodimma as the winner contradicted the result recorded in the reports it relied on.
He accordingly sought an order quashing the publication and directing INEC to recognize him as a duly nominated APC candidate.
INEC, APC and Uzodimma were joined as defendants in the suit.
Conflicting reports of primary findings
The controversy over the primaries was fueled by starkly conflicting accounts of the votes recorded by the two aspirants.
In the affidavit supporting Okorocha’s case, his son and personal assistant on political affairs, Amen Rochas, said his father won the primaries with 150,780 votes, while Uzodimma got 102,158.
However, the governor’s camp disputed this account.
Lucky Ajokperiniovo, who identified himself as a member of the APC committee that conducted the primaries, told the court that votes were recorded and collected from neighborhoods through local government collection centers before the final result was declared.
According to his counter affidavit, Uzodimma won with 230,464 votes, while Okorocha received 1,098 votes.
Ajokperiniovo maintained that the committee’s report was signed by its members on May 18 and that the primaries substantially complied with the APC constitution, its guidelines and the 2026 Election Law.
He also said the party’s appeals committee had not received any petition challenging the outcome of the operation.
The court, however, ruled that the evidence before it established that Okorocha was the valid winner of the primaries.
INEC had earlier defended Uzodimma’s appointment
Prior to Thursday’s ruling, INEC had claimed that Uzodimma had won the APC primaries and asked security agencies to investigate a document circulating on social media naming Okorocha as the winner.
In letters dated October 5 and 8, 2026, Imo Resident Electoral Commissioner Chukwuemeka Ibeziako asked the Department of State Services and the police to investigate the document, which the commission described as fictitious.
INEC said the report in its possession identifies Uzodimma as the winner of the May 18 exercise.
The commission also opposed Okorocha’s suit in the Federal High Court, arguing that its officials monitored the primaries and reported that the governor got the most votes.
It also said it had received no complaints from aspirants regarding the conduct or outcome of the exercise.
The controversy then placed the commission’s position on the primaries under judicial scrutiny, with the court ultimately ruling in Okorocha’s favor.
APC and Uzodimma had challenged the case
During the proceedings, Uzodimma and APC filed separate preliminary objections seeking the dismissal of Okorocha’s case.
Their lawyers argued that the case was time-barred because it had not been filed within the 14-day period prescribed by section 285(9) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
The governor and the party argued that the action was filed outside the time limit allowed by law.
Okorocha, however, urged the court to grant the reliefs he sought, including the annulment of INEC’s recognition of Uzodimma and forcing the commission to publish his name as the APC candidate.
After the parties presented their arguments, Justice Egwuatu fixed October 29 for judgment.
The court later ruled in favor of Okorocha, quashing Uzodimma’s emergence as the party’s candidate and ordering INEC to recognize the former governor.
What the ruling means for the 2027 elections
The ruling reshapes the APC’s preparations for the Imo West senatorial contest ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Okorocha, who previously represented the district in the Senate, has now been recognized by the court as the rightful winner of the party primaries, while Uzodimma has been barred from continuing to stand as a candidate.
The development also places the party and INEC at the center of the next steps needed to implement the court orders.
Uzodimma became governor of Imo State in January 2020 and is serving his second term. His Senate candidacy had set up a contest with his predecessor for the APC ticket for the same senatorial district.
Thursday’s ruling represents a significant turning point in that context, although any subsequent appeal or further court proceedings could affect the legal trajectory of the dispute.
For now, the Federal High Court has ordered INEC to recognize Okorocha as the APC candidate for Imo West in the January 16, 2027 senatorial election.
