{"id":4693,"date":"2026-10-31T05:46:21","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T05:46:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/31\/orlu-senatorial-seat-war-in-imo-as-okorocha-battles-uzodimma\/"},"modified":"2026-10-31T05:46:21","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T05:46:21","slug":"orlu-senatorial-seat-war-in-imo-as-okorocha-battles-uzodimma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/31\/orlu-senatorial-seat-war-in-imo-as-okorocha-battles-uzodimma\/","title":{"rendered":"Orlu Senatorial Seat:\u00a0War in Imo as Okorocha battles Uzodimma"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Orlu<\/p>\n

\n

\u2022Court grants Okorocha ticket, 12\u00a0 Chairmen back go<\/em>vernor<\/p>\n

By Omeiza Ajayi \u2013 ABUJA<\/strong><\/p>\n

The fight over who flies the All Progressives Congress (APC) flag in Imo West Senatorial District has turned into open war, with the party\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Read Also:<\/strong> Tinubu has broken Imo\u2019s shackles \u2014 Okorocha hails court judgment<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>The 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\u2019s candidate for the January 16, 2027 Senate election. State APC chairman, Austin Onyedebelu spoke on behalf of the Chairmen. Said he:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe 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,\u201d the chairmen declared.<\/p>\n

Justice Obiora Egwuatu ruled on Thursday that Okorocha, and not the governor, won the party\u2019s May 18 primary for the district. He held that Okorocha had produced \u201csufficient evidence\u201d that he won the exercise, which was monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).<\/p>\n

Court order<\/h4>\n

The court ordered the APC to forward Okorocha\u2019s name to INEC and directed the commission to publish him as the party\u2019s validly nominated candidate. It also barred Uzodimma from presenting himself as the APC candidate in the election.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the avoidance of doubt, we NEVER VOTED FOR ROCHAS OKOROCHA,\u201d Onyedebelu said. \u201cThis 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur 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,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

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 \u201crobbery\u201d before it causes problems for the party in the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile 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,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

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

Primaries records<\/h4>\n

At the heart of the case are conflicting records of the primary. Okorocha\u2019s affidavit, filed by his son, Amen Rochas, claimed he polled 150,780 votes to Uzodimma\u2019s 102,158. Uzodimma\u2019s counter-affidavit, sworn by Lucky Ajokperiniovo, said the governor won with 230,464 votes against 1,098 for Okorocha.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The Imo State chapter of the APC has also dismissed the judgment. Its Publicity Secretary, Onwuasoanya FCC Jones, said in a statement that Uzodimma \u201cremains the candidate of our party for Imo West Senatorial District.\u201d He said the party\u2019s legal department would study the ruling and act accordingly.<\/p>\n

The Uzodimma camp has said he will appeal. A source in the camp said: \u201cThe governor will be on the ballot for the January 16, 2027 election.\u201d The APC national secretariat in Abuja had not responded to the judgment at the time of filing this report.<\/p>\n

Okorocha, through his Chief Press Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo, called the judgment \u201ca victory for the nation\u2019s fast-growing democracy.\u201d He thanked President Tinubu and the APC leadership for creating an environment in which members could pursue their rights.<\/p>\n

He said talk of his arrest had been put to rest, \u201cbecause the court has found that my documents are genuine and correct.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

He said he obtained certified copies of the primary documents from INEC on July 22, 2026, while the governor\u2019s document emerged a month later, on August 22, which he called \u201can afterthought.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the irregularities in the governor\u2019s 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\u2019s side has not responded to these claims.<\/p>\n

Uzodimma\u2019s 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. \u201cI can\u2019t sue myself as a winner,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Election timetable <\/h4>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Okorocha made the same point on Channels Television. \u201cYou cannot hold two paid jobs,\u201d he said. He added that he did not expect the governor to appeal because the matter was \u201ctoo glaring,\u201d though he acknowledged his right to do so. \u201cFor now I am the APC candidate,\u201d he declared.<\/p>\n

He rejected the Imo APC\u2019s stand. \u201cI was the founding father of this party,\u201d he said, adding that the party structure in the state was his.<\/p>\n

Okorocha said Uzodimma \u201ccannot be worked with by anybody because he is a tradesman and an opportunist.\u201d He added that \u201cwhat occupies his mind now is not even governance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He is very aggressive about power. He can do anything to get power.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to him, the governor \u201ccannot carry Imo, cannot carry the Southeast.\u201d \u201cIt is in the villa here that Hope exists; he doesn\u2019t exist down here,\u201d he said. He also said: \u201cHope has never won any election.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the Southeast has \u201conly one problem,\u201d which is the governor\u2019s ambition. In his words, Uzodimma wants to be governor, senator, vice president and chairman of every election committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cSit down and govern your people,\u201d he told the governor.<\/p>\n

The former governor urged Ndigbo to back Tinubu\u2019s re-election, saying the Southeast should \u201cstop protesting and start partnership\u201d and \u201cshould not gamble with the future of our children.\u201d<\/p>\n

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 \u201crainbow coalition\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

He dared the governor to a popularity contest: \u201cLet\u2019s move out and call the people and see what will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Okorocha said the governor never expected him to go to court. \u201cI think justice spoke louder than he could imagine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Vanguard News<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

The post Orlu Senatorial Seat:\u00a0War in Imo as Okorocha battles Uzodimma<\/a> appeared first on Vanguard News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source: <\/p>\n

Vanguard News<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2022Court grants Okorocha ticket, 12\u00a0 Chairmen back governor By Omeiza Ajayi \u2013 ABUJA The fight over who flies the All Progressives Congress (APC) flag in Imo West Senatorial District has… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4694,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}