Rochas Okorocha,Former Imo State Governor has filed a suit against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at the Federal High Court in Abuja, challenging the publication of Hope Uzodimma Governor as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the Imo West senatorial district ahead of the 2027 general election.
The legal action, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1854/2026 and filed on August 13, 2026, by counsel O.J. Aboje, also joins Uzodimma and the APC as co-respondents. Okorocha is seeking a court declaration that INEC’s publication of Uzodimma’s name was wrongful and unconstitutional, asserting that the governor did not validly win the direct primary conducted on May 18.
In the affidavit deposed to by his son, Amen Rochas, the former governor alleged that he won the direct primary election with 150,780 votes against Uzodimma’s 102,158 votes. However, Williams Kayode, chairman and returning officer of the 2026 Imo APC National Assembly Primary Election Committee, had declared Uzodimma the winner with 230,464 votes.
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Citing Section 183 of the 1999 Constitution, Okorocha asked the court to determine whether INEC is bound by its monitoring officers’ reports. Section 183 dictates that a sitting governor shall not hold any other executive office or paid employment during their tenure.
The suit highlights a operational overlap between Uzodimma’s gubernatorial mandate and the legislative calendar. Sworn in for a second term in January 2024, Uzodimma’s tenure as governor elapses in January 2028. Conversely, the 11th Senate will be inaugurated in June 2027, over six months before the expiration of his stint as governor.
Okorocha, who served as governor from 2011 to 2019 and as senator from 2019 to 2023, is praying the court to set aside Uzodimma’s candidate status, restrain him from parading himself as the nominee, and compel INEC to recognise and publish Okorocha’s name as the duly nominated APC candidate.
