Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma said he would not relinquish his All Progressives Congress (APC) nomination for the Imo West Senate seat, days after a federal court ordered electoral officials to replace him with former Governor Rochas Okorocha.
“If they tell you that I will hold this ticket and somebody will collect it and give it to another, tell the person it is a lie,” Uzodimma said Sunday after attending Mass at the Government House Chapel in Owerri, the state capital.
The Governor’s declaration sets up a potential confrontation between the state’s political establishment and the judiciary over control of the APC’s ticket for the January 2027 election.
A Federal High Court in Abuja last week ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remove Uzodimma’s name and publish Okorocha’s as the party’s candidate for Imo West.
Justice Obiora Egwuatu ruled that Okorocha, who governed Imo from 2011 to 2019, won the APC primary held on May 18 and was therefore the party’s lawful nominee.
The judge said INEC had wrongly accepted Uzodimma’s nomination despite what he described as “overwhelming documentary evidence” that the governor had not won the contest.
The court also barred Uzodimma from presenting himself as the APC candidate and directed the party to submit Okorocha’s name to INEC.
Okorocha, who challenged INEC’s recognition of Uzodimma in a suit filed in August, welcomed the ruling as a victory for Imo West residents.
He praised the judiciary and thanked President Bola Tinubu, asserting that the presidency no longer supported the political situation in Imo State.
Uzodimma gave no indication that he intends to comply with the order. Instead, he urged supporters to campaign exclusively for the APC in upcoming legislative contests, saying the party would field candidates for the House of Assembly and House of Representatives.
He also identified the party’s Senate candidates: Patrick Ndubueze for Okigwe, Alex Mbata for Owerri, and himself for Orlu—the zone that includes Imo West.
The Imo chapter of the APC has continued to back Uzodimma, saying he remains its candidate and signaling that it may challenge the judgment on appeal.
The party has argued that Okorocha filed his case beyond the 14-day constitutional window for pre-election disputes.
The dispute leaves INEC facing competing claims over who should appear on the ballot for Imo West.
The court’s directive favors Okorocha, but the governor’s insistence that he will not surrender the ticket, and the APC’s refusal to accept the ruling, suggest that the battle is likely to move to appellate courts.
