The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has published the name of Senator Hope Uzodinma as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Imo State.
The electoral body made the disclosure on Friday following a court order obtained by the APC candidate from a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Abuja.
Senator Hope had approached the court for an order to override Thursday’s ruling of the Federal High Court sitting in Owerri.
Twenty aspirants on the platform of the APC had obtained the previous order which restrained INEC from publishing the name of the party’s candidate.
Meanwhile, the APC leadership in the state has distanced itself from the name published by the electoral umpire.
The Publicity Secretary of the party in Imo, Mr Jones Onwuasoanya, explained in a statement that INEC closes work at 4pm, except on election days when it may continue collation of results till very late in the night.
He noted that the electoral body had published the particulars of governorship candidates in the state earlier in the day, stressing that there was no fresh court order compelling INEC to publish any name for Imo APC.
According to the Imo APC spokesman, Senator Uzodimma’s running mate is from the same Federal Constituency with him.
“This can hardly be possible, given Nigeria’s political culture,” he said, adding, “The only authentic governorship candidate of the APC in Imo State is Ugwumba Uche Nwosu and this will be proven with time.”
Onwuasoanya accused Uzodimma of taking extreme measure to ensure that his name was published in order to keep his supporters happy and hopeful.
