Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, has vowed to appeal the Federal High Court judgment recognising his predecessor, Rochas Okorocha, as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Imo West Senatorial District in the 2027 elections, describing the former governor as “chasing shadows”.
Uzodimma’s Chief Press Secretary, Oguike Nwachuku, disclosed this on Friday while responding to questions from PREMIUM TIMES, describing the judgment as a “travesty of justice” that would be overturned on appeal.
“Obviously, the Governor will appeal the judgement which is a travesty of justice,” Nwachuku said.
His comments followed Okorocha’s appearance on Arise News’ Prime Time on Thursday, where the former governor claimed to remain the dominant political figure in the APC in Imo State. He also accused Uzodimma of relying on documents containing irregularities to secure the party’s senatorial ticket.
Okorocha had declared that “the structure of APC in Imo State is Rochas”, insisting that his political influence remained intact despite opposition from the governor’s camp.
He also alleged inconsistencies in documents supporting Uzodimma’s emergence as the party’s candidate, citing discrepancies in the primary election date, the description of the exercise as a consensus arrangement and result sheets allegedly completed by one person across 144 wards and 12 local government areas.
However, Nwachuku dismissed the allegations, maintaining that Uzodimma won the primary convincingly after Okorocha rejected the consensus arrangement adopted in the state’s other two senatorial districts.
According to him, political stakeholders in Owerri and Okigwe zones adopted consensus arrangements, producing Prince Alex Mbata and Senator Patrick Ndubueze as candidates for Imo East and Imo North, respectively.
He said Okorocha instead opted for a direct contest against Uzodimma across the 12 local government areas in Imo West, where the governor polled 230,464 votes against the former governor’s 1,098 votes.
Nwachuku further maintained that officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) witnessed the exercise, while the APC National Assembly Primary Election Committee, led by its chairman and returning officer, retired Rear Admiral Williams Kayoda, supervised the process across the local government areas.
“Rochas Okorocha is simply chasing shadows and intentionally working against the interest of the APC he claims to be a founding member and the re-election of President Bola Tinubu,” he said.
The governor’s spokesperson also challenged Okorocha’s claim to control the APC structure in Imo State, arguing that the party’s rules recognise sitting governors as leaders of the party in their respective states.
“By the APC rules, the governors are the leaders of the party in their states while the president is the leader in the country. I’m not aware that rule has changed,” he said.
Nwachuku accused the former governor of attempting to personalise the party’s structure and refusing to recognise its leadership. He also criticised Okorocha’s eight-year administration in Imo State, describing it as a family system of government.
He further dismissed Okorocha’s celebration of the court judgment, insisting that it would be overturned on appeal.
“No responsible leader anywhere in the world will appear on television the way Okorocha did to celebrate a judgement he knows will be thrown out at the appeal for lacking in facts and for being against the rules of the party,” he said.
The dispute centres on conflicting claims over the legitimacy of the APC primary and alleged irregularities in the supporting documents, which Uzodimma’s camp has rejected.
The APC had also indicated that it would study the judgment and pursue available legal remedies.
The latest development adds to the political rivalry between the two men. Okorocha governed Imo State from 2011 to 2019 and represented Imo West in the Senate from 2019 to 2023.
