A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to replace Imo State Governor Hope Uzodinma with former governor Rochas Okorocha as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Imo West Senatorial District in the 2027 general elections.

Justice Obiora Egwuatu gave the order on Thursday, ruling that Uzodinma did not win the APC senatorial primary election conducted on May 18 and monitored by INEC.

Egwuatu consequently directed INEC to remove Uzodinma’s name from the list of candidates for the senatorial district and publish Okorocha as the winner of the primary.

The court also ordered the APC to submit Okorocha’s name to INEC as its candidate for the Imo West Senatorial District in the 2027 elections.

Osun State governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, has dismissed reports suggesting he reached an agreement with the All Progressives Congress (APC) to share legislative and local government positions, insisting that his political alliance with the Presidency is focused on the 2027 presidential election.

The governor’s position was contained in a statement by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, following social media reports claiming that the alleged deal would see the Osun Accord and the state APC share positions in the Senate, House of Representatives, State Assembly and local governments.

Adeleke reaffirmed his commitment to the re-election of President Bola Tinubu, but described reports of an agreement to share offices with the APC as “mere fabrication and fake news”.

He said negotiations to resolve the local government crisis in Osun were aimed at protecting the interests of both APC chairpersons and elected Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) chairmen and councilors.

“As the governor of all Osun indigenes and residents, we are working to resolve the local government matter by ensuring that all interests are protected and cared for. As at now, all stakeholders agreed that restoring grassroots governance is a condition for our successful campaign ahead of the 2027 elections,” the governor reportedly said.

Adeleke expressed confidence that the local government crisis would be resolved before the end of the year.

He, however, maintained that the political alliance with the Presidency did not extend to legislative elections, stressing that candidates of different parties would compete for those positions.

“As I said while inaugurating the Presidential Campaign Council, the coalition is targeted at the presidential election. Partners agreed to join hands to ensure our dear president is re-elected. All other legislative positions are open for competition. I will work and campaign for Accord candidates for Senate, House of Representatives and the State House of Assembly,” he said.

The governor urged political parties to campaign for their candidates, insisting that the electorate would determine the outcome of the legislative contests.

“I urge all political parties to campaign for their candidates as I will do for Accord candidates. We have no deal on the National Assembly and the State Assembly elections. All our candidates will face the electorate who has the final say,” Adeleke added.

Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has accused President Bola Tinubu of presiding over a grotesque spectacle of executive excess: the reported distribution of 2026 model luxury SUVs, each worth more than ₦150 million, to APC youth leaders while millions of Nigerians are crushed by hunger and soaring costs.

Atiku said it was a brazen insult to ask Nigerians to endure hardship while party loyalists receive vehicles worth a fortune. He demanded an immediate public explanation from President Tinubu and the Presidency: who is paying for these SUVs, and why is such lavish political spending taking place while ordinary families struggle to afford food and transport?

In a statement issued by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Atiku said:

“The APC National Youth Leader says these vehicles were donated by First Lady Oluremi Tinubu. Nigerians deserve to know where the money came from to buy and distribute so many 2026 model SUVs, each worth more than ₦150 million, for political mobilisation.

“The First Lady holds no elected or executive office.She is only a domestic appendage of the office of President. Were these vehicles bought with her personal funds, donations or public resources? Who paid for them? What was the total cost? The Presidency must provide a clear account. Nigerians cannot be expected to accept a fleet of extraordinarily expensive vehicles for party loyalists without knowing who financed them.

“At a time families cannot afford food, transport and other basic necessities, these gifts are a brazen insult to the people. The government has found a way to provide luxury SUVs for APC youth leaders, yet millions of Nigerians are still waiting for meaningful relief from the cost of living crisis. This is not merely a question of misplaced priorities. It is one of the most outlandish displays of executive recklessness in our history.

“First, APC women leaders reportedly received luxury vehicles. Now, according to the National Youth Leader, APC youth leaders are receiving SUVs from the First Lady. The earlier gifts came on the eve of the abduction of schoolchildren in Oyo State. Now another lavish round of political giving is taking place while Nigerians face hunger, insecurity and hardship.

“While Nigerians continue to ask where the savings from subsidy removal have gone, the Presidency must explain how such costly gifts are being funded. If the vehicles were paid for privately, the source of the funds should be disclosed. If public resources were used, the government must identify who authorised the spending and under what legal authority.

“The scale of these gifts raises grave questions about whether our collective patrimony is being diverted to buy political loyalty. Nigeria cannot be run as a captured state, where wealth and influence serve the powerful while ordinary citizens are left to struggle.

“The same youth leader who made the gifts public is reportedly travelling by private jet. That image of extraordinary privilege stands in jarring contrast to the hardship facing ordinary Nigerians. The Presidency must stop treating questions about wealth and spending as an inconvenience. Nigerians have a right to ask where the money came from.

“Nor is this culture of privilege confined to party officials; it reaches the very household of the President. His own son, Mr Seyi Tinubu, has been pictured, in widely circulated images, wearing a Richard Mille RM 67-02 Sébastien Ogier, a timepiece that sells for close to half a million dollars ($500k), while the same government asks ordinary Nigerians to endure hardship, tighten their belts and wait patiently for relief that never seems to arrive.

“A worker on the national minimum wage would need several lifetimes to earn what the President’s son wears on one wrist. When the household of the President and the youth leader of his party flaunt such wealth in a season of hunger, insecurity and joblessness, they are not merely displaying poor taste; they are telling Nigerians, in the plainest possible terms, how little their suffering registers in the corridors of power.

“Why is Bola inflicting such pain on Nigerians while those closest to his government enjoy such lavish privilege? Nigerians need answers, not another display of wealth for political mobilisation.

“When I am sworn in as President, every naira found to have been spent illegally will be thoroughly investigated, and everyone found culpable will be brought to justice.

“Tinubu made life difficult. I will make life affordable again.”