‘If Democracy Is Practised, 90 Percent Of Politicians Won’t Be In Office’ – Okorocha

A former Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, has said that about 90 per cent of politicians holding office in Nigeria would not be there if democracy were properly practised.

Naija News reports that Okorocha, who spoke in an interview on Arise News on Thursday, argued that many officeholders were not the electorate’s genuine choice.

He stated this while reacting to the Federal High Court’s judgment in Abuja, which nullified Governor Hope Uzodimma’s emergence as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Imo West Senatorial District and directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise him as the winner of the May 18 primary.

“If democracy is practised the way it should be practised, 90% of people holding office in Nigeria cannot hold office,” Okorocha said.

He claimed that many candidates were foisted on voters rather than emerging through a credible process.

“Most of them are not truly the choice of people. These are people who are imposed, opportunists, who find their way,” he stated.

The former governor said the judgment’s significance went beyond his personal ambition, as it raised questions about the integrity of party primaries.

“My joy is not on the basis that I was declared a winner, but for the fact that so many misinformations paraded in the news media,” he said.

He insisted that the evidence in his favour was overwhelming, saying, “The facts are too glaring.”

Asked about conflicting figures from the primary, including one document crediting Uzodimma with 230,464 votes and Okorocha with 1,098, and another showing Okorocha with 150,780 votes, the former governor referred to documents he said he obtained from INEC.

He said he secured certified copies from the commission on July 22, 2026, and questioned the emergence of another document dated August 22, 2026, which he linked to Uzodimma.

Uzodimma has vowed to appeal the judgment. Okorocha, however, said his concern was not about being declared the winner but about the interest of the people.

“It’s about the people,” he said.