Senator Rochas Okorocha has filed a lawsuit against the Independent National Electoral Commission over the publication of Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma’s name as the All Progressives Congress candidate for the Imo West Senatorial District election scheduled for 2027.
Okorocha, a two-term former governor of Imo State, posed five questions for the court’s determination in the suit. The questions center on whether INEC acted lawfully in recognizing Uzodimma as the APC’s candidate for the district.
The first question asks whether INEC was bound by reports of its own officers who monitored the APC primary conducted on May 18 for the nomination of its candidate for the Imo West Senatorial District in the 2027 general election, in which Okorocha claimed to have emerged the winner.
The second question asks whether, having regard to Section 183 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, the publication of Uzodimma’s name on Saturday as the winner of the APC primary for the Imo West Senatorial District in the 2027 poll was wrongful.
Okorocha sought 10 reliefs should the court answer the five questions in his favor. Among the reliefs, he urged the court to declare it unconstitutional for INEC to publish Uzodimma’s name as the APC candidate when Uzodimma was not the person who emerged as the winner of the primary held on May 18.
He sought an order setting aside or voiding the publication made by INEC on Saturday, which declared Uzodimma as the person who won the highest number of votes in the APC primary election held on May 18 to contest as the preferred candidate for the Imo West Senatorial District in 2027.
Okorocha also prayed the court for an order directing INEC to recognize and publish his name as the duly nominated candidate of the APC to contest the poll. The relief, if granted, would remove Uzodimma’s name from INEC’s official list of candidates for the senatorial district.
He sought an additional order prohibiting Uzodimma, whether by himself or through the APC or any other person, from parading himself as the nominated candidate of the party to contest the Imo West Senatorial District election in the 2027 general election.
Okorocha equally sought an order awarding costs against the respondents in the suit, as the court may deem appropriate given all the circumstances of the case before it.
In an affidavit attached to the suit, Amen Rochas, who identified himself as Okorocha’s biological son and personal assistant on political matters, deposed that he was conversant with the facts and circumstances of the case.
Amen Rochas stated in the affidavit that his father, Okorocha, born on Sept. 22, 1962, is a registered, financial, card-carrying member of the APC. He said both Okorocha and Uzodimma, along with other APC aspirants, were screened and cleared to participate in the direct primaries.
He stated in the affidavit that the National Working Committee directed that the results of the primary be forwarded to the party’s national secretariat, where they were to be announced. He alleged that Okorocha scored 150,780 votes in the direct primary conducted on May 18, while Uzodimma scored 102,158 votes.
He further stated that Uzodimma’s tenure in office as governor would expire at midnight on Jan. 14, 2028, having taken the oath of office and been sworn in on Jan. 15, 2024. He noted that Uzodimma’s tenure would not have expired by 2027, when the Senate would be inaugurated after the general election.
He confirmed that Uzodimma purchased an Expression of Interest form and nomination forms for the party’s senatorial candidate, qualifying him to participate in the primary election alongside other aspirants who also obtained and submitted the required forms before the May 18 exercise.
The case adds to the legal contests surrounding the APC’s Imo West Senatorial District candidacy ahead of the 2027 general election, with Okorocha’s suit directly challenging INEC’s recognition of Uzodimma and seeking the court’s intervention to restore his name as the party’s nominated candidate.
