Okorocha Asks Court to Declare Him APC Candidate for Imo West

(Rochas Okorocha. Photo by Nation News)

A former governor of Imo State has taken the state’s current governor to court over his nomination as the party’s Senate candidate for the 2027 election.

Rochas Okorocha filed the case in the Federal High Court in Abuja on August 13, naming the electoral commission, the current governor, and the ruling party as respondents in the matter.

Okorocha is challenging the decision to publish Hope Uzodimma’s name as the winner of the party primary held in May.

Okorocha himself served as Imo governor from 2011 to 2019 and was a senator for the same district from 2019 to 2023.

He and Uzodimma both ran for the party’s ticket in the May primary.

The official returning officer announced that Uzodimma won with 230,464 votes.

In his lawsuit, Okorocha is asking several things from the court.

He wants the court to say that publishing Uzodimma’s name was wrong and illegal.

He is asking the court to instead recognize him as the legitimate nominee and order the electoral commission to publish his name.

He also wants the court to prevent Uzodimma and the party from presenting him as the candidate for the Senate seat.

In a statement attached to the lawsuit filed by Okorocha’s son, different numbers are given.

According to the son’s account, their father actually won the primary with 150,780 votes while Uzodimma received only 102,158 votes.

This raises a major question about which version of the primary results is accurate.

At the heart of the case is the question of whether Uzodimma can legally hold two positions at once.

The constitution says a sitting governor cannot work in another executive office while still governing.

Uzodimma began his second term as governor in January 2024 and will serve until January 2028.

If he wins the Senate election, which would begin in June 2027, he would still be serving as governor.

This timing issue is part of what Okorocha is challenging in court.