By Omoyeni Ojeifo
Former Imo Governor Rochas Okorocha has accused Governor Hope Uzodimma of election manipulation and questioned his Senate ambition, following his court victory in the dispute over the APC senatorial primary for Imo West.
Reacting to Thursday’s judgment in interview on Channels TV Politics today, monitored by PerSecondNews on Thursday, Okorocha expressed satisfaction with the outcome, saying the ruling had corrected damaging allegations against him.
“Thousands of Nigerians have called, come into my office to congratulate me. But I wasn’t quite really happy because I am declared a winner. But my happiness lies in the fact that the misgivings have been corrected,” Okorocha said.
The former governor challenged the authenticity of documents submitted in support of the disputed primary, alleging irregularities in the results presented.
“Today, that all the results he presented was written by one person. Who presented them? Who wrote them,” he asked.
“The police should go after those who forged and not go to an innocent man who presented a document,” he asserted.
Okorocha also questioned Uzodimma’s decision to seek the Imo West Senate seat while still serving as governor, arguing that the arrangement raised constitutional concerns.
“Hope Uzodimma is holding a paid job and seeking another paid job. The question in the mind of everybody is, if Hope Uzodimma is a governor under Section 183 of the Constitution, we say that you shall not hold two paid jobs,” he said.
He maintained that his legal challenge was directed at Uzodimma personally rather than the Imo State Government, questioning the state’s intervention in the dispute.
“Do I sue government of Imo State? What is the business of government of Imo State with election matters that relate to what we are talking about? It is Hope as a person, I went to court against,” Okorocha said.
The former governor also criticised Uzodimma’s declaration at the inauguration of President Bola Tinubu’s campaign council that Okorocha would not appear on the ballot, arguing that the pending case should have been left for the court to determine.
“When the matter is in court, you must allow court to take decision. You are not the court, so you can’t arrogate yourself the power of knowing what is going to be in the court,” he said.
Despite the dispute, Okorocha ruled out leaving the APC, describing himself as one of the party’s founding fathers in Imo State.
“I wouldn’t have left the party that I founded. I founded this party. The name APC was given by Rochas Okorocha. Ask anybody this, and I was one, I was among the founding fathers of this party,” he said.
Okorocha commended the judiciary for what he described as a victory for justice, expressing satisfaction that the court had corrected the allegations surrounding the disputed APC senatorial primary and cleared the way for his name to be restored on the ballot.
Persecondnews recalls that the Federal High Court in Abuja, had on Thursday declared Okorocha the winner of the disputed APC senatorial primary for Imo West and directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to reinstate his name as the party’s candidate.
The disagreement between the two politicians comes as both hold positions in President Tinubu’s re-election campaign council, raising questions about the party’s ability to reconcile its leading figures in Imo State ahead of the 2027 elections.
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