Imo APC Rejects Court Order Naming Okorocha as Senatorial Candidate

Imo State's All Progressives Congress has decisively rejected a Federal High Court ruling that upheld Rochas Okorocha's entitlement to the party's senatorial nomination for Imo West. The court instructed the Independent National Electoral Commission to accept Okorocha as the legitimate candidate.

Party leadership at state headquarters, with APC state chairman Chief Austin Onyedebelu heading a delegation that included chairmen from all 12 local government areas, publicly assailed the ruling as fundamentally unjust. Party officials characterized the court's decision as improper intervention in their primary election proceedings.

They maintained that Governor Hope Uzodimma legitimately secured victory in the primary race and constitutes the party's true nominee. Across the Imo West senatorial zone, all 137 ward chairmen echoed this rejection, describing the judgment as political manipulation garbed in judicial robes.

These officials urged President Bola Tinubu and the APC's national working committee to step in and validate Uzodimma's candidacy. The confrontation has intensified a longstanding political contest between Okorocha and Uzodimma stretching back years.

Enyinnaya Onuegbu, who serves as Uzodimma's Chief of Staff, challenged Okorocha's standing, contending that the ex-governor absented himself from vital discussions and preparation work that preceded the primary exercise. Onuegbu asserted that Okorocha surfaced only when the time came to claim results.

APC insiders have raised alarms regarding how this sustained feud between the two men endangers party cohesion in Imo as the 2027 election season approaches. The state functions as a contested political arena, and schisms within the governing party risk undermining electoral results across numerous races.