The Federal High Court in Abuja has scheduled 29 October for the delivery of judgment in a high-profile legal dispute between former Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha and current Governor Hope Uzodinma over the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket for the Imo West Senatorial District. Justice Obiora Egwuatu fixed the date on Thursday after hearing arguments from all parties in the suit, which challenges the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) recognition of Uzodinma as the party’s candidate.
Okorocha, represented by counsel O.J. Aboje, filed the originating summons on 13 August, naming INEC, the APC, and Uzodinma as respondents. He is seeking a declaration that the APC’s submission of Uzodinma’s name to INEC was unlawful and that the commission’s subsequent publication of Uzodinma as the winner was unconstitutional. Okorocha is also requesting an order to set aside the publication, which he dates to 1 August, and a directive for INEC to recognize and publish his name as the nominated candidate instead.
The core of the dispute centers on conflicting accounts of the APC primary election held on 18 May. In a supporting affidavit, Amen Rochas, Okorocha’s son and Personal Assistant on Political Matters, alleged that his father won the primary with 150,780 votes against Uzodinma’s 102,158. Rochas claimed that INEC’s monitoring officers reported this outcome to the commission’s chairman, but that INEC ultimately published Uzodinma as the winner, contrary to the reports of its own officers.
Conversely, Uzodinma and the APC have filed preliminary objections arguing that the suit is statute-barred, claiming it was filed outside the 14-day limit prescribed by Section 285(9) of the Constitution. In a counter affidavit, Lucky Ajokperiniovo, a member of the party’s election committee, stated that Uzodinma won the primary with 230,464 votes to Okorocha’s 1,098. Ajokperiniovo asserted that the results were declared by the returning officer on 18 May without any immediate objection from the aspirants and that no petitions were received by the appeal committee.
INEC, through its lawyer Hassan Umar, also opposed the suit. In its counter affidavit, deposed to by Assistant Chief Legal Officer Gyang Dung, the commission maintained that its officials monitored the primary and reported that Uzodinma scored the highest number of votes. Dung denied signing any of the exhibits tendered by Okorocha and stated that INEC received no complaints from any aspirant regarding the outcome.
The case, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1854/2026, will determine the validity of the APC’s nomination for the Imo West Senatorial seat ahead of the 2027 general elections. Okorocha, who served as governor from 2011 to 2019 and as a senator from 2019 to 2023, is seeking to overturn the decision that has allowed Uzodinma to proceed as the party’s candidate.
<small>Source: The Sun Nigeria — read the original story there.</small>
