Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has strongly refuted allegations linking him to the recent Federal High Court judgment that nullified the nomination of Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the Imo-West senatorial district in the 2027 general elections. ​
Speaking during a live media chat in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Wike described the claims dragging his name into the legal dispute as “mischievous,” asserting that he neither instituted the lawsuit nor holds membership in the APC. ​The controversy follows a judgment delivered by Justice Obiora Egwuatu at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The presiding judge directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remove Governor Uzodimma’s name and recognise former Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, as the validly nominated APC candidate for Imo-West ahead of the election slated for January 16, 2027. ​Justice Egwuatu held that Okorocha won the APC senatorial primary conducted on May 18, 2026, after securing the majority of lawful votes cast.
Addressing journalists during the broadcast, Wike explicitly dismissed any connection to the courtroom battle. ​”Anybody calling my name is being mischievous. I didn’t go to court; I’m not in APC. I don’t know what the issues are,” Wike clarified. ​Wike noted that speculation connecting him to the judgment arose because Governor Uzodimma had publicly threatened members of his administration a day before the court ruling against joining the “Rainbow Coalition”—a political initiative supporting President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid. ​
“People are saying that because a day before that judgment he had openly warned his people there’s no Rainbow Coalition; if I see you, I’ll collect the vehicle from you… So when that thing now happened, it was credited that it was me. How would it have been me? What is Hope Uzodimma afraid of in the Rainbow Coalition?” Wike said. ​
Wike maintained that political leaders should focus on securing President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027, adding that he offers no apologies for his personal friendship with Rochas Okorocha while remaining uninvolved in the internal judicial processes of the APC. ​Meanwhile, representatives of the Imo State chapter of the APC and legal counsel for Governor Uzodimma have indicated that an appeal will be filed to contest the ruling of the Federal High Court.
