A Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday, October 29, 2026, ordered Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma to stop presenting himself as All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Imo West Senatorial District in the 2027 general election.
Gatekeepers News reports that Justice Obiora Egwuatu ruled that former Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha won the majority of votes cast in the APC senatorial primary held on May 18, 2026.
The judge consequently directed APC to forward Okorocha’s name as its candidate for the Imo West senatorial election scheduled for January 16, 2027.
The judgment followed a suit filed by Okorocha against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Uzodimma and APC over the recognition of the incumbent governor as the party’s candidate for the senatorial district.
Okorocha had challenged INEC’s publication of Uzodimma’s name as the winner of the primary, arguing that the commission should recognise the outcome recorded by its officials who monitored the exercise.
In the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1854/2026, Okorocha sought an order setting aside the publication of Uzodimma’s name and directing INEC to recognise and publish him as the party’s duly nominated candidate.
The dispute had earlier intensified after INEC maintained that its official report identified Uzodimma as the winner of the primary and petitioned the Department of State Services and the police over a separate document circulating online that purported to show Okorocha as the winner.
Uzodimma began his second term as Governor in January 2024, with his tenure expected to end in January 2028. The timing of the 2027 senatorial election had also raised questions about whether he could serve in both positions if elected.
