Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma has dismissed suggestions that he could lose his senatorial ticket under the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The governor made his position known on Sunday after attending a church service at the Government House Chapel in Owerri, the state capital.
“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.
Uzodimma also called on residents to campaign for the APC, insisting that his political camp would not align with any other party in the forthcoming elections.
“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.
He further urged residents to support the party’s candidates in the forthcoming legislative elections.
“For house of assembly, it is APC. For house of representatives, it is APC,” he said.
The governor also identified the APC candidates he expects residents to support in the senatorial elections across the state’s three zones.
“For senate, your senator in Okigwe zone is Patrick Ndubueze, in Orlu zone it is my humble self (Hope Uzodimma), and in Owerri zone it is (Alex) Mbata,” he said.
His comments came days after a Federal High Court in Abuja directed 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 state governor Rochas Okorocha.
The presiding judge, Obiora Egwuatu, ruled that Okorocha had secured the majority of votes in the APC senatorial primary held on May 18.
The court faulted INEC for accepting Uzodimma’s nomination despite what it described as “overwhelming documentary evidence that the governor did not win the primary”.
Okorocha, who governed Imo State between 2011 and 2019, had instituted a suit in August challenging INEC’s recognition of Uzodimma as the party’s senatorial candidate.
Following the judgment, the former governor described the decision as a victory for residents of Imo West and thanked President Bola Tinubu, claiming that the presidency was no longer supportive of the situation in Imo State.
He also praised the judiciary, saying the ruling showed that “justice is no longer for sale to the highest bidder”.
Uzodimma’s senatorial ambition has also raised constitutional questions over his bid to contest before completing his tenure as governor.