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Former Imo State Governor Senator Rochas Okorocha has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu following a Federal High Court judgment recognizing him as the valid All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the Imo West Senatorial District, declaring that the ruling has broken long-standing political shackles in the state.
Okorocha made the assertion on Thursday while hosting his legal defense team shortly after the judgment was handed down by Justice Obiora Egwuatu at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The court determined that Okorocha won the APC senatorial primary exercise held on May 18, 2026, directing the ruling party to immediately transmit his details to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as its official flagbearer for the January 16, 2027 senatorial election, while barring Governor Hope Uzodimma from presenting himself as the candidate.
Reacting to the ruling, Okorocha commended the bench for upholding constitutional justice, characterizing the legal outcome as a victory for the entire electorate of Imo State.
“I thank the judiciary for standing on the side of justice. I could imagine what would have happened in the state if they decided to twist justice. This is a victory for Imo State,” he said.
The former governor drew a symbolic parallel between the judicial ruling and the broken shackle insignia on President Tinubu’s signature cap, suggesting the outcome revealed the President’s true stance on the internal party squabble.
“This is also the first time the Imo people will understand the sign of the shackle on President Tinubu’s cap. By this judgment, the shackle on Imo State has been broken, and it is also evident that the President is tired of this nonsense and that he is not in support of it,” Okorocha said.
While expressing appreciation to President Tinubu, Okorocha offered no concrete evidence indicating executive interference or direct presidential influence in the judicial proceedings.
The court’s verdict marks the climax of a fierce legal contest wherein Okorocha challenged INEC’s prior recognition of Uzodimma as the APC candidate for Imo West, a controversy that heightened after INEC asked the police and the Department of State Services (DSS) to investigate a viral document naming Okorocha the primary winner.
Though INEC maintained that its original field report logged Uzodimma as victor, Okorocha also addressed earlier media speculation regarding his purported arrest, explaining why he maintained silence when the rumors surfaced.
“When the news broke out that I was arrested, I refused to make any comments,” he said.
He nonetheless criticized the documentation submitted during the contentious primary process, pointing to contradictions between claims of a consensus candidacy and recorded voting tallies, as well as discrepancies in the primary dates.
Okorocha questioned how official filings could claim Uzodimma emerged via consensus while simultaneously recording individual vote tallies, while also highlighting a document that erroneously dated the primary exercise to May 16 instead of the actual May 18 date.
“So which one did the court really dwell on?” he asked, seeking clarification regarding the documentary records examined by the court.
The controversy had escalated after INEC claimed its verified field tally showed Uzodimma polling 230,464 votes against Okorocha’s 1,098 votes, prompting the electoral umpire to call for security probes into competing result sheets.
This landmark court declaration represents a dramatic reshuffling of political dynamics within the Imo State APC ahead of the upcoming 2027 legislative polls.
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