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 on the basis of the party’s disputed primary election.
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Justice I. N. Oweibo delivered the judgment on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, in a suit instituted by five aspirants who challenged the process through which the NDC’s candidate for the Owerri Zone senatorial seat emerged.
The court held that the NDC did not conduct a valid primary election for Imo East in accordance with the required process and consequently restrained INEC from accepting a candidate presented by the party on the strength of that exercise.
The decision directly affects the candidacy of former Secretary to the Imo State Government and former member of the House of Representatives, Uche Onyeaguocha, whose name had already been submitted by the NDC to INEC for the January 16, 2027 National Assembly election.
INEC subsequently published Onyeaguocha’s name among candidates for Imo East before the court delivered its judgment.
Independent reports of INEC’s published list also identify Onyeaguocha as the NDC candidate for the Imo East contest. (PUO Reports)
The five plaintiffs were aspirants for the same NDC senatorial ticket.
According to the proceedings, they purchased the party’s expression-of-interest forms and underwent screening ahead of the proposed primary.
They alleged that each of them also paid ₦20 million as a development fee, but contended that the party subsequently failed to conduct a valid primary election at which its candidate could lawfully emerge.
The plaintiffs therefore approached the Federal High Court challenging the process that produced Onyeaguocha and asking the court to intervene before INEC gave effect to the party’s nomination.
Justice Oweibo agreed with their central contention that the NDC had failed to conduct the Imo East primary in accordance with the required process.
The court consequently directed INEC not to accept any candidate arising from the disputed exercise.
The ruling creates a legal impediment to the NDC’s existing nomination for the Imo East seat, although the reports reviewed do not disclose whether the party or Onyeaguocha has filed an appeal or taken other steps to challenge the judgment.
The reports also do not provide the names of the five plaintiffs, the suit number or the complete consequential orders contained in the certified judgment. Those details would therefore require the enrolled judgment or originating processes for confirmation.
Onyeaguocha is a lawyer and former federal lawmaker who represented the Owerri Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives between 2003 and 2007.
He later served as Secretary to the Imo State Government during the administration of former Governor Emeka Ihedioha.
He was also the Peoples Democratic Party candidate for Imo East in the 2023 senatorial election, where he lost to Ezenwa Onyewuchi, who contested on the platform of the Labour Party.
The latest dispute arose after Onyeaguocha moved to the NDC and was presented as the party’s candidate for the same senatorial district ahead of the 2027 election.
The judgment comes shortly after INEC published the list of senatorial candidates for the 2027 election, with Onyeaguocha listed under the NDC for Imo East alongside candidates from other political parties.
The Imo East case is separate from the wider litigation that recently surrounded the NDC’s status as a registered political party.
On September 18, the Court of Appeal in Abuja overturned a Federal High Court decision that had set aside the judgment compelling INEC to register the NDC, thereby restoring the legal effect of the party’s registration pending any further proceedings.
The Owerri judgment, however, concerns the party’s internal candidate-selection process specifically for the Imo East Senatorial District and not its overall registration as a political party.
The immediate effect of Justice Oweibo’s decision, based on the reports available, is that INEC has been ordered not to accept a candidate arising from the disputed NDC Imo East primary process.
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