The Ifemba Orumba Campaign Organization has called on the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) and Hon. Okwudili Ezenwankwor to return the party's House of Representatives ticket for Orumba North and South Federal Constituency to Hon. Barr. Uchenna Okonkwo-Okom, whom it describes as the party's authentic candidate.
The appeal follows a unanimous judgment by a seven-member Supreme Court panel led by Justice Adamu Jauro. The court restored Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7) and 84(2) of the Electoral Act 2026. Those provisions require parties to submit their membership registers to INEC within the stipulated period and to use those registers in conducting primaries. Section 84(2) provides for direct primaries or consensus in nominating candidates.
The ruling overturned a July 16 Court of Appeal decision.
The Ifemba Campaign Council says the judgment settles the matter in principle.
"The law is now clear: only those on a party's register can take part in its primaries," a campaign source said. It argues that Mr. Ezenwankwor was an APGA man until days before the NDC's May 29, 2026 primary. He joined the NDC after losing his former party's primary, so his name could not have been on the membership register the NDC was required to submit to INEC within the stipulated period.
In the campaign's view, he was never a bona fide NDC member and cannot lawfully hold the party's ticket.
The camp says the ticket currently sits with Mr. Ezenwankwor as a placeholder, without legal foundation. It calls on NDC leadership to retrieve it and give it to Mr. Okonkwo-Okom, who it says is a long-standing member with a genuine claim to the mandate.
The organization notes that suits are pending at the Federal High Courts in Awka and Abuja, but says the party need not wait for judgment. "Restoring the ticket now would spare the NDC a costly legal defeat and protect its chances in 2027," the statement said.
It also appealed to Mr. Ezenwankwor as an honourable man to step aside, arguing that a mandate resting on doubtful ground would not survive scrutiny.
The group urged supporters to remain calm and law-abiding, and to keep focus on delivering every vote in Orumba for the NDC and its presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi.
"A ticket obtained through the backdoor cannot carry a constituency to victory," the statement concluded. "The NDC should choose the law and restore the ticket, because the party's credibility depends on it."
