The prolonged political and legal battle over the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial ticket for Imo North Senatorial District, otherwise known as Okigwe Zone, has continued to generate fresh developments, with the camp of the incumbent Senator, Patrick Chiwuba Ndubueze, maintaining a strong position in the contest.
Senator Ndubueze had earlier emerged as the APC candidate following the party’s senatorial primary election held in May 2026. The APC subsequently maintained that Ndubueze was the winner of the primary, dismissing claims suggesting that former Senator Ifeanyi Araraume had emerged victorious.
The development marked the beginning of another phase in the political contest between the two politicians, as the disagreement over the party’s ticket moved beyond the primary election and into the party’s internal review process and, subsequently, the courts.
Reports on the primary indicated a decisive victory for Senator Ndubueze, who was reported to have polled more than 108,000 votes, while Senator Araraume was reported to have scored 79 votes.
The controversy, however, did not end with the primary. Araraume later challenged the status of the APC ticket and approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking, among other reliefs, an order directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise him as the APC candidate for Imo North and to set aside the subsequent uploading of Senator Ndubueze’s name.
The case, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1569/2026, has placed the APC, Senator Patrick Ndubueze and INEC before the court.
In proceedings reported in July, the Federal High Court in Abuja summoned the APC National Legal Adviser, Murtala Aliyu Kankia, after two lawyers separately appeared to represent the party. The court also directed the parties to file and exchange their processes ahead of the next stage of proceedings.
For the Ndubueze camp, the development represents another important stage in a political contest that began with the APC primary and has now entered the judicial arena.
Nevertheless, Senator Ndubueze enters the continuing legal battle from the position of the candidate declared by the APC after the May primary, with his name subsequently reported as having been uploaded to the INEC portal as the party’s candidate.
The unfolding situation has therefore added another dimension to the political rivalry between Ndubueze and Araraume. While Ndubueze’s supporters regard the series of developments as evidence of the strength of the mandate he secured through the party’s primary process, Araraume is relying on his legal challenge to contest the validity of the subsequent substitution of his name.
Report By Fredrick Njoku