Senate Election: Uzodimma Wanted To Turn Fourth Into First Again – Okorocha

Former Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha has accused Governor Hope Uzodimma of attempting to manipulate election results, alleging discrepancies in election documents and polling unit results in a dispute over a senatorial election.

Okorocha, who praised the judge who delivered the latest judgment in the case, said the ruling had exposed what he described as irregularities in the documents presented during the proceedings.

He also drew a comparison with the Supreme Court’s 2020 judgment that overturned Emeka Ihedioha’s election as Imo State governor and declared Uzodimma the winner of the March 9, 2019, governorship election.

Speaking after the latest judgment, Okorocha described his lawyer as one of the best in the world, saying he had taken up the case because he believed an injustice had been committed.

“Well, let me first say that this is perhaps one of the greatest lawyers in the world,” he said.

The former governor recalled an earlier incident involving Fortnum & Mason, saying the police had intervened and an arrest was made in that case, but the circumstances surrounding the present matter were different.

“Those of you who may recall that this was the same case that took place at Fortnum & Mason. And Fortnum & Mason, the police came then there was an arrest,” he said.

“But here there was no arrest, and the news was all over. But now it’s very clear by this judgment.”

Okorocha argued that the judgment had clarified questions surrounding the authenticity of the documents involved in the dispute and said law enforcement authorities should pursue those responsible for forgery rather than individuals who presented documents they believed to be genuine.

“The police will go after those who forged and not go to innocent man — for who presented a fake document,” he said.

He further alleged that documents connected to the election contained irregularities, claiming that results from 12 local government areas showed evidence of manipulation.

“For the judges to see that, it’s confirmed — that from the 12 local governments, all the 18 in the electorates were filled by one person. So, it shows that the other camp forged terribly,” Okorocha said.

The former governor also recalled the Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in the Imo governorship election, which remains one of the most consequential election judgments in the state’s political history.

The seven-man panel, led by then Chief Justice of Nigeria Tanko Muhammad, unanimously declared Uzodimma the validly elected governor after accepting his argument that results from 388 polling units had been excluded from the final collation.

Before the Supreme Court ruling, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Ihedioha, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, winner with 273,404 votes, while Uzodimma, who contested on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and came fourth in the election was credited with 96,458 votes.

The Supreme Court’s decision reversed that outcome and installed Uzodimma as governor.

Against that background, Okorocha alleged that the current dispute reflected a similar attempt to alter the ranking of candidates through questionable election figures.

“There was the same thing that happened when they wrote one person’s 288 [polling] booths results,” he said.

“That made number four to become number one. Unfortunately.”

Okorocha said the latest judgment had strengthened his belief that justice could prevail despite the political interests surrounding election disputes.

“I listened to what my son said, that justice is no longer for sale for the highest bidder,” he said.

“So, thank the judiciary. We thank them for standing on the side.”

He also thanked forensic experts who, according to him, contributed to the proceedings, while expressing concern about what he described as attempts to intimidate people involved in establishing the facts of the case.

“I couldn’t have imagined what has transpired within this period, or how to have a twist of justice and twist the judge and his main friend,” he said.

“And also thank the judiciary at this point. And we thank the forensic experts. Forensic experts.”

The former governor added that he was concerned about the treatment of an individual he said was receiving medical care in Lagos, alleging that there were efforts to bring the person in and put him away for doing the right thing. He did not provide further details to establish the circumstances surrounding the allegation.

“It’s unfortunate. This evil must stop in this country,” Okorocha said.

He also credited President Bola Tinubu with what he interpreted as a broader political significance of the judgment, referring to the broken-shackle symbol associated with the president’s political messaging.

“This is the first time the Imo people will understand the sign in President Tinubu’s cap. The shackle, the broken shackle,” he said.

“By this judgment, Imo has joined the broken shackle. He said that the shackle on Imo’s head has been broken.”

Okorocha further claimed that the judgment indicated that the presidency was dissatisfied with the circumstances surrounding the dispute.

“And it is also evidence that the presidency is tired of this nonsense that is going on. And he said that they are not in support of him,” he said.

He thanked the president and expressed gratitude for the outcome, although he did not provide independent evidence to establish the presidency’s position on the case.

Explaining why he had initially remained silent when reports emerged that he had been arrested and accused of forgery, Okorocha said he had wanted the judicial process to clarify the allegations against him.

“When they said I was arrested, I refused to make a comment. I refused to say anything. My name was all over the whole world,” he said.

He said the allegations had left him struggling to understand how the documents submitted in relation to the election could be reconciled.

According to Okorocha, one document indicated that Uzodimma had emerged through a consensus arrangement, while another document attributed to the governor stated that an election had taken place on May 16, two days before the May 18 date he cited as the actual election date.

“To understand whether the documents submitted by Hope, which said that he had a consensus satisfied that he met his consensus,” Okorocha said.

He questioned the consistency of the documents, particularly because, according to him, the candidates had scores that should have been reflected in the relevant election records.

“The same Hope submitted a document by himself saying that his election took place on the 16th. Two days before the actual election of the 18th May,” he said.

“So, which one would the court really vote on?”

Okorocha also questioned a letter he attributed to an INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, which he said had been sent to the commission’s national chairman to present Uzodimma as the winner.

He challenged the role of the APC in relation to the document, asking how the party could authenticate a document that he claimed had not been issued to it.

“How can APC satisfy a document that was never given to them?” he asked.

The former governor further alleged that some ward-level result sheets contained the names of the candidates but lacked the scores later reflected in local government collation records.

“In the local government collection result, they had marks, scores, but in the ward results, no score at all,” he said.

“So where did you get the score that you transcribed to the local government?”

He also questioned the handwriting on some of the records, alleging that figures had been entered by electoral workers outside their official workplaces and that the results did not tally.

Okorocha said he had chosen to wait for the courts to determine the matter rather than respond to every allegation publicly.

“So I was really wondering. I said, let me keep my hands. See what justice speaks in this country,” he said.

He commended the judge for what he described as an independent decision, expressing satisfaction that the court had addressed the issues raised during the proceedings.

“And I’m happy. I must commend the judge for standing on the side of justice without fear of failure,” Okorocha said.