Politics
Court Bars INEC From Accepting NDC Candidate for Imo East
A Federal High Court in Owerri has ordered INEC not to accept an NDC candidate for Imo East following a dispute over the party's senatorial primary.
The Federal High Court sitting in Owerri, Imo State, has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to accept any candidate presented by the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) for the Imo East Senatorial District based on the party's disputed primary process.
Justice I. N. Oweibo delivered the judgment on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, following a suit filed by five aspirants who challenged the process through which the NDC selected its candidate for the Owerri Zone senatorial seat.
The ruling affects the candidacy of Uche Onyeaguocha, a former Secretary to the Imo State Government and former member of the House of Representatives, whose name had been submitted by the NDC to INEC for the January 16, 2027 National Assembly election.
INEC had subsequently published Onyeaguocha's name among the candidates for the Imo East senatorial contest.
The five plaintiffs were among aspirants who obtained the NDC's expression-of-interest forms and underwent screening ahead of the party's candidate-selection exercise.
They argued that despite participating in the preliminary stages, the party failed to conduct a valid primary election to determine its candidate for Imo East. The aspirants also alleged that they each paid ₦20 million as a development fee.
In his judgment, Justice Oweibo held that the NDC did not conduct a primary election for the Imo East Senatorial District in accordance with the required process.
The court consequently directed INEC not to accept a candidate presented by the NDC for the senatorial district on the basis of the disputed process.
The decision creates uncertainty around the NDC's existing nomination for the Imo East seat. However, reports reviewed do not indicate whether the party or Onyeaguocha has appealed the judgment or taken other legal steps to challenge it.
Onyeaguocha, a lawyer and former federal lawmaker, represented Owerri Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives from 2003 to 2007. He later served as Secretary to the Imo State Government under former Governor Emeka Ihedioha.
He previously contested the Imo East senatorial election in 2023 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but lost to Ezenwa Onyewuchi, who contested on the platform of the Labour Party.
The latest case specifically concerns the NDC's process for selecting its candidate for the same senatorial district ahead of the 2027 election.