Uzodimma Dismisses Threat to Senatorial Ticket, Backs APC Candidates

Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, has dismissed suggestions that he could lose the All Progressives Congress senatorial ticket for Imo West, insisting that nobody can take the ticket away from him.

Uzodimma spoke on Sunday after attending a church service at the Government House Chapel in Owerri, where he urged residents to support APC candidates in the forthcoming elections.

“If they tell you that I will hold this ticket and somebody will collect it and give it to another, tell the person it is a lie,” the governor said.

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He urged residents to campaign for the ruling party, declaring that his political camp would not support any other party. He also endorsed APC candidates for the state and federal legislative seats, naming Patrick Ndubueze for Okigwe zone, himself for Orlu zone and Alex Mbata for Owerri zone.

His remarks came days after a Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to delist him as the APC candidate for Imo West Senatorial District and replace him with former governor Rochas Okorocha.

Justice Obiora Egwuatu ruled that Okorocha won the APC senatorial primary conducted on May 18, faulting INEC for recognising Uzodimma despite what he described as overwhelming documentary evidence that the governor did not win the exercise.

Okorocha, who governed Imo State between 2011 and 2019, had instituted the suit in August to challenge INEC’s recognition of Uzodimma as the party’s candidate.

Reacting to the judgment, the former governor described it as a victory for the people of Imo West and commended President Bola Tinubu and the judiciary. He also claimed that the presidency was no longer supportive of the situation in Imo State, adding that the ruling demonstrated that “justice is no longer for sale to the highest bidder”.