Imo West: Uzodimma stays social gathering’s senatorial candidate regardless of court docket judgement – APC

The Imo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has insisted that Governor Hope Uzodimma stays its candidate for the Imo West Senatorial District within the 2027 basic elections, regardless of a Federal High Court judgment recognising former governor Rochas Okorocha because the social gathering’s validly nominated candidate.

The social gathering stated it might examine the judgment and decide its subsequent line of motion, sustaining that Uzodimma emerged victorious within the social gathering’s senatorial major performed on May 18, 2026. Blueprint stories

The place was contained in a press release issued on Thursday by the APC State Publicity Secretary, Onwuasoanya FCC Jones, following the judgment delivered by Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The court docket ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise and publish Okorocha’s identify because the APC candidate for Imo West Senatorial District forward of the 2027 elections.

It additionally directed Uzodimma to cease presenting himself because the social gathering’s candidate for the senatorial election scheduled for January 16, 2027.

APC insists Uzodimma received major

Reacting to the ruling, the Imo APC maintained that Uzodimma secured the social gathering’s ticket by means of a authentic major election, insisting that his candidacy remained unchanged.

The social gathering dismissed stories suggesting that the governor had been changed as its senatorial flagbearer, describing them as unverified stories circulating on social media.

“The party wishes to state without any confusion that His Excellency Distinguished Senator Hope Uzodimma, CON, remains the candidate of our party for Imo West Senatorial District, having won the primaries of our great party with the overwhelming support of the majority of our party members,” the assertion stated.

However, the social gathering indicated that it might look at the court docket’s choice earlier than figuring out its response.

“The party’s legal department shall study the outcome of a legal intervention in this matter and act accordingly,” Jones stated.

The APC additionally urged its members and supporters to stay calm and targeted on preparations for the 2027 elections, insisting that the authorized improvement mustn’t distract them from working in the direction of the social gathering’s success throughout the state.

Although some stories described the social gathering’s response as a rejection of the judgment, its publicly reported place was that Uzodimma remained its candidate whereas its authorized division reviewed the court docket’s choice.

Why the court docket recognised Okorocha

The judgment adopted a swimsuit filed by Okorocha difficult INEC’s recognition of Uzodimma because the APC’s candidate for Imo West.

In the swimsuit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1854/2026, the previous governor questioned the legality of the fee’s choice to publish Uzodimma’s identify because the winner of the social gathering’s senatorial major.

Okorocha argued that stories from INEC officers who monitored the first supported his declare that he received the competition and that the fee was required to behave on the proof of the election it monitored.

Delivering judgment, Justice Egwuatu held that the proof earlier than the court docket established that Okorocha secured the vast majority of votes forged within the major and was entitled to be recognised because the social gathering’s candidate.

The choose consequently directed the APC to ahead Okorocha’s identify to INEC and ordered the electoral fee to publish his identify because the validly nominated candidate for the district.

The ruling successfully displaced Uzodimma from the APC’s senatorial ticket, though it didn’t take away him from his place as governor of Imo State.

Conflicting claims over major outcomes

The dispute centres on competing accounts of the end result of the May 18 major election.

According to court docket stories, Okorocha relied on paperwork referring to the conduct of the train, together with stories attributed to INEC officers who monitored the method.

However, the APC and Uzodimma disputed his declare. In their submissions earlier than the court docket, they maintained that the governor received the first and challenged the swimsuit on authorized grounds, together with the argument that it was filed outdoors the constitutionally prescribed 14-day interval for difficult a major election.

A consultant of the election committee additionally maintained in an affidavit that Uzodimma emerged victorious, citing the collation and transmission of outcomes from polling venues by means of ward and native authorities ranges to the senatorial district returning officer.

The committee’s account put Uzodimma’s votes at 230,464 and Okorocha’s at 1,098. These figures fashioned a part of the conflicting claims thought of within the authorized dispute, whereas the court docket in the end dominated in favour of Okorocha based mostly on the proof it accepted.

The disagreement has positioned the social gathering’s nomination course of below renewed scrutiny and left the 2 political figures on opposing sides of a contest that might form the APC’s preparations for the 2027 elections in Imo West.

Long-running rivalry returns to the highlight

The judgment has additionally introduced the political rivalry between Uzodimma and Okorocha again into focus.

Okorocha ruled Imo State from 2011 to 2019 and subsequently represented Imo West within the Senate from 2019 to 2023. Uzodimma, who additionally beforehand represented the district within the Senate, turned governor in January 2020 and started his second time period in January 2024.

Uzodimma’s present tenure is predicted to finish in January 2028, that means the dispute over the senatorial ticket additionally raises questions in regards to the timing of his proposed transfer from the chief to the legislature.

The court docket’s ruling considerations the social gathering’s nomination for the senatorial election, not the validity of Uzodimma’s governorship.

For now, the Imo APC says it can examine the judgment and act accordingly. Whether the social gathering proceeds with an enchantment or takes one other authorized step will likely be essential in figuring out the ultimate candidate it presents for Imo West.

Until the dispute is resolved by means of the suitable authorized course of, the competition between Uzodimma and Okorocha stays a big check for the APC’s candidate-selection course of forward of the 2027 basic elections.