The Imo State Commissioner of Information, Declan Emelumba, has rejected the judgment of the Federal High Court, which declared former governor Rochas Okorocha the winner of the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary for Imo West Senatorial District.
Emelumba, in a statement, described it as “a complete travesty of justice,” adding that the Court of Appeal would be approached to reverse it.
“The judgment of a Federal High Court declaring Rochas Okorocha winner of the APC primaries is a complete travesty of justice, and the Court of Appeal will be approached to reverse it.
He said that the judgment was in defiance of extant judicial pronouncements of the Supreme Court.
Emelumba argued that the trial judge defied all known rules of law in delivering the judgment, noting that having been presented with Supreme Court judgments which held that matters about forgery and perjury cannot be entertained through originating summons procedure.
“But for unfathomable reasons, he chose to defy the authority of the Supreme Court to deliver judgment in favour of Okorocha based on affidavit evidence founded on forged documents,” the commissioner said.
Despite being availed of a subsisting Supreme Court ruling in Orji v Chima, which requires any litigant seeking to be declared winner of a primary election to file their case within 14 days of the primaries, the judge, Emelumba, said, went ahead to overrule the preliminary objection even though he found that the sole issue for determination was who was the winner of the primary election conducted on May 18, 2026.
He said that this was in spite of the fact that Okorocha filed his case on 13 August 2026, while the primaries were held on 18 May 2026, an action he said was taken 87 days after.
“As law-abiding citizens, we would explore the judicial avenues available to set aside the Federal High Court ruling and recover our mandate,” the commissioner added.
Justice Egwuatu on Thursday ordered the Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma, to immediately stop presenting himself as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Imo West Senatorial election slated for January 16, 2027, after holding that Uzodinma did not win the May 18 primary election conducted by the APC and monitored by INEC.
The Judge held that the evidence presented before the court proved that former governor Okorocha won the majority of the votes cast at the poll and should be declared the winner of the election.
Justice Egwuatu subsequently ordered the APC to forward Okorocha’s name as the candidate of the APC for the 2027 Imo West senatorial election.
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