Orlu Senatorial Seat: War in Imo as Okorocha battles Uzodimma

•Court grants Okorocha ticket, 12  Chairmen back governor

By Omeiza Ajayi – ABUJA

The fight over who flies the All Progressives Congress (APC) flag in Imo West Senatorial District has turned into open war, with the party’s 12 local government chairmen in the zone rejecting a court judgment that handed the ticket to former Governor Rochas Okorocha and insisting that Governor Hope Uzodimma remains the candidate.

Orlu Senatorial Seat: War in ImoOrlu Senatorial Seat: War in ImoOrlu Senatorial Seat: War in ImoOrlu Senatorial Seat: War in ImoOrlu Senatorial Seat: War in ImoOrlu Senatorial Seat: War in ImoThe chairmen made their stand known on Friday at a press conference in Owerri, a day after a Federal High Court in Abuja sacked Uzodimma as the party’s candidate for the January 16, 2027 Senate election. State APC chairman, Austin Onyedebelu spoke on behalf of the Chairmen. Said he:

“We reject this judgment in its entirety because it is an undisguised travesty of justice. It is a political robbery clothed in legal robes, the latest instalment of a satanic scheme hatched by Abuja politicians against the South-East,” the chairmen declared.

Justice Obiora Egwuatu ruled on Thursday that Okorocha, and not the governor, won the party’s May 18 primary for the district. He held that Okorocha had produced “sufficient evidence” that he won the exercise, which was monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Court order

The court ordered the APC to forward Okorocha’s name to INEC and directed the commission to publish him as the party’s validly nominated candidate. It also barred Uzodimma from presenting himself as the APC candidate in the election.

The chairmen said they were in the field on May 18, 2026, when the primary was held, and that Okorocha scored only 1,098 votes against about 230,000 for Uzodimma, who was declared winner in the presence of INEC staff.

“For the avoidance of doubt, we NEVER VOTED FOR ROCHAS OKOROCHA,” Onyedebelu said. “This legal somersault orchestrated by enemies of Ndigbo was obviously procured not only to destabilise Orlu zone but to consolidate the war of attrition by some Nigerians to politically hold down the south east.”

They said Okorocha never used the window provided by the party to petition its appeal panel over any irregularity, only to go to court and be handed victory.

The chairmen pointed to what they called wild celebrations by Okorocha since Thursday and his remarks that he got help from higher quarters outside the court. In their view, this showed a conspiracy to shut Ndigbo out of political relevance.

They said they were enraged that people outside Igboland wanted to use Okorocha as an errand boy to supplant the wish of the majority of APC members in the Orlu zone, who overwhelmingly voted for Uzodimma.

“Our grievance lies with a small circle of power brokers who appear determined that no Igbo man shall come close to the first, second, or third positions in the land. We therefore appeal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whose leadership we support and will continue to support, to look closely at the men behind this scheme,” they said.

Describing Uzodimma as the heartbeat of the APC in the South-East, the chairmen said they remained loyal party members but urged the APC to move quickly to resolve what they called a “robbery” before it causes problems for the party in the region.

“While we hope and pray that this sinister action of enemies of Ndigbo will be quashed by the Appeal Court, we fear the backlash of this obnoxious attempt to deny the people of the South East their rightful political position of being at least the number three in Nigeria, something that has been denied us for almost 20 years,” they said.

The judgment, in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1854/2026, ended a case Okorocha filed on August 13 against INEC, the APC and Uzodimma.

Primaries records

At the heart of the case are conflicting records of the primary. Okorocha’s affidavit, filed by his son, Amen Rochas, claimed he polled 150,780 votes to Uzodimma’s 102,158. Uzodimma’s counter-affidavit, sworn by Lucky Ajokperiniovo, said the governor won with 230,464 votes against 1,098 for Okorocha.

INEC told the court that its officials monitored the primary and that Uzodimma scored the highest number of votes. It said no aspirant complained. The commission had also referred the disputed document naming Okorocha as winner to security agencies for investigation.

The Imo State chapter of the APC has also dismissed the judgment. Its Publicity Secretary, Onwuasoanya FCC Jones, said in a statement that Uzodimma “remains the candidate of our party for Imo West Senatorial District.” He said the party’s legal department would study the ruling and act accordingly.

The Uzodimma camp has said he will appeal. A source in the camp said: “The governor will be on the ballot for the January 16, 2027 election.” The APC national secretariat in Abuja had not responded to the judgment at the time of filing this report.

Okorocha, through his Chief Press Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo, called the judgment “a victory for the nation’s fast-growing democracy.” He thanked President Tinubu and the APC leadership for creating an environment in which members could pursue their rights.

He said talk of his arrest had been put to rest, “because the court has found that my documents are genuine and correct.”

Okorocha said INEC does not conduct party primaries but only monitors them and holds whatever the party deposits. According to him, the results transmitted to INEC headquarters were in his favour, but a different result was announced after the party told states not to announce results.

He said he obtained certified copies of the primary documents from INEC on July 22, 2026, while the governor’s document emerged a month later, on August 22, which he called “an afterthought.”

He said the irregularities in the governor’s documents were what the court looked at. In his account, the document puts the primary on May 16, two days before the actual date, and describes the governor as a consensus candidate in what was a direct primary. Uzodimma’s side has not responded to these claims.

Uzodimma’s lawyers had argued that a litigant seeking to be declared winner of a primary must file within 14 days, yet Okorocha filed 87 days after. Okorocha rejected this, saying he held a certified true copy from INEC showing he won. “I can’t sue myself as a winner,” he said.

The contest also carries a complication unrelated to the ballot box. Uzodimma was first sworn in as governor on January 15, 2020, and re-elected in November 2023, and his term runs until January 2028. He will therefore still be governor when the Senate election holds. Legal commentators say Section 183 of the Constitution does not allow a governor to hold the governorship and a Senate seat at the same time.

Election timetable

Even if he wins, Uzodimma would have to resign as governor before being sworn in as a senator. The new Senate is expected to begin work in June 2027, about seven months before his term ends.

Okorocha made the same point on Channels Television. “You cannot hold two paid jobs,” he said. He added that he did not expect the governor to appeal because the matter was “too glaring,” though he acknowledged his right to do so. “For now I am the APC candidate,” he declared.

He rejected the Imo APC’s stand. “I was the founding father of this party,” he said, adding that the party structure in the state was his.

Okorocha said Uzodimma “cannot be worked with by anybody because he is a tradesman and an opportunist.” He added that “what occupies his mind now is not even governance. 

He is very aggressive about power. He can do anything to get power.”

According to him, the governor “cannot carry Imo, cannot carry the Southeast.” “It is in the villa here that Hope exists; he doesn’t exist down here,” he said. He also said: “Hope has never won any election.”

He said the Southeast has “only one problem,” which is the governor’s ambition. In his words, Uzodimma wants to be governor, senator, vice president and chairman of every election committee.

“Sit down and govern your people,” he told the governor.

The former governor urged Ndigbo to back Tinubu’s re-election, saying the Southeast should “stop protesting and start partnership” and “should not gamble with the future of our children.”

Declaring that he loves Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), as a brother, Okorocha said the region must be strategic. He commended the “rainbow coalition” idea championed by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike. He said he is not a member but wants to adopt it, and would bring the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and others behind Tinubu.

He dared the governor to a popularity contest: “Let’s move out and call the people and see what will happen.”

Okorocha said the governor never expected him to go to court. “I think justice spoke louder than he could imagine,” he said.

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