Nobody can take my senatorial ticket from me – Uzodimma

Uzodimma spoke on Sunday after attending a church service at the Government House Chapel in Owerri, the state capital.

He insisted that nobody could take the ticket away from him and give it to another candidate.

“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,” he said.

The governor also urged residents to support and campaign for the APC ahead of the forthcoming elections.

He said his political camp would not support any other party.

“Go and campaign for the party, our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC). There is no other political party we are going with,” he said.

Uzodimma also listed the APC candidates he wants residents to support in the legislative elections.

He said the APC would produce candidates for the state House of Assembly and House of Representatives.

For the Senate, he named Patrick Ndubueze as the party’s candidate for Okigwe zone, himself for Orlu zone and Alex Mbata for Owerri zone.

The governor’s comments came days after a Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remove his name as the APC candidate for Imo West Senatorial District and replace it with that of former governor Rochas Okorocha.

Justice Obiora Egwuatu ruled that Okorocha won the APC senatorial primary conducted on May 18.

The judge faulted INEC for recognising Uzodimma as the party’s candidate despite what he described as strong documentary evidence showing that the governor did not win the primary.

Okorocha, who governed Imo State from 2011 to 2019, had filed a case in August challenging INEC’s decision to recognise Uzodimma as the APC candidate.

Reacting to the judgment, Okorocha described it as a victory for the people of Imo West.

He thanked President Bola Tinubu, claiming that the presidency was no longer supporting the situation in Imo State.

The former governor also praised the judiciary, saying the ruling showed that justice was no longer available only to those who could pay the highest price.

Uzodimma’s senatorial ambition has also raised questions about its constitutional implications.