It’s getting spicy in Imo politics again! Former Governor Rochas Okorocha and incumbent Governor Hope Uzodinma are set for a major courtroom showdown over who flies the APC flag for Imo West in 2027.

Here’s the gist, as filed with the court and reported by cbinews.tv:

Rochas Okorocha has dragged Governor Hope Uzodinma before the Federal High Court in Abuja, arguing that Uzodinma has no business eyeing the Imo West Senatorial seat while he is still Governor.

In the affidavit backing his suit, Okorocha makes a pretty interesting constitutional argument. He says Uzodinma was sworn in on 15 January 2024, meaning his tenure runs until midnight on 14 January 2028. Since the next Senate will be inaugurated in 2027, before Uzodinma’s term as governor expires, Okorocha contends his ambition is, in his words, “inordinate.”

But it doesn’t stop there.

Okorocha is also challenging the party primary itself. He alleges that in the direct primary held on 18 May, he actually won fair and square with 150,780 votes against Uzodinma’s 102,158 votes. Despite that, he claims Uzodinma went ahead to purchase his Expression of Interest and Nomination forms and was wrongly put forward as the party’s candidate.

So what does he want from the court?

Okorocha is praying the court to declare it unconstitutional for INEC to publish Uzodinma’s name as the APC candidate when he didn’t win the primary, to order INEC to recognise and publish his name instead as the duly nominated APC candidate for Imo West, and to stop Uzodinma, whether by himself or through the APC, from parading himself as the candidate.

The respondents in the suit are INEC, Governor Hope Uzodinma, and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

It’s still early days and the court is yet to rule, but one thing is clear — the battle for Imo West has officially moved from the ballot to the bench.

Source: cbinews.tv

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