Imo 2027: APP, CAD Locked in Endless War of Words

Ahead of the much-trumpeted 2027 governorship election in Imo State, the Action Peoples Party (APP) and the Civic Action for Democracy (CAD) have been drawn into an escalating war of words.

CAD fired the opening salvo by dragging the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to court, urging the electoral body to immediately delist APP. In a swift response, APP, through its Imo State Publicity Secretary, Mr. Cajetan Duke Akuta, dismissed CAD’s action as senseless and lacking substance.

CAD had filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Owerri, seeking an order compelling INEC to remove the Action Peoples Party from its register of political parties. The suit, with file number FHC/CS/03/2026, argued that INEC’s continued retention of APP on its list of registered political parties was illegal, insisting that the party had been deregistered since 2020.

Speaking with journalists, the Executive Director of CAD, Mazi Franklin Ngoforo, disclosed the reasons the group believes APP must be deregistered.

According to him, “This action is about enforcing the Constitution and protecting the integrity of Nigeria’s electoral system. APP was lawfully deregistered on February 6, 2020, and has no legal existence whatsoever.”

Ngoforo further alleged that INEC had failed, for nearly six years, to produce any valid court order reinstating the party.

“There is no suit, no case file, no ruling, no injunction. What we are dealing with here is a fabrication designed to cover up institutional wrongdoing,” he said.

The CAD executive director also claimed that the Supreme Court had already ruled on the matter, insisting that the judgment against APP was final.

“You cannot defy the Supreme Court and still claim to be operating under the rule of law. INEC has a mandatory duty to delist APP, and that duty cannot be waived by administrative excuses,” Ngoforo stated.

He added that CAD had filed for an interlocutory injunction seeking to stop APP from fielding candidates or being recognised by INEC pending the determination of the substantive suit.

“The danger is obvious. If a deregistered party is allowed to participate in the 2027 elections, the entire process risks being fundamentally compromised from the outset,” he warned.

Ngoforo further decried what he described as APP’s unlawful participation in elections after its alleged deregistration, arguing that such actions could lead to the installation of candidates sponsored by a non-existent political party.

“What you have is a political structure operating outside the law, using institutional compromise to gain access to the ballot. That is precisely the kind of illegality this suit is designed to stop,” he said.

APP Fires Back

Reacting, Akuta described CAD’s action as a “media circus.”

“The attention of the Hon. Ernest Njesi-led Interim State Executive Committee of the Action Peoples Party (APP), Imo State Chapter, has been drawn to yet another orchestrated media circus staged by a relatively unknown group called Civic Action for Democracy (CAD), under the leadership of one Franklin Ngoforo, on Tuesday, January 20, 2026,” he said.

Dismissing CAD’s press conference as grandstanding, Akuta said the group’s suit was an exercise in futility.

“We dismiss this latest episode in its entirety as an exercise in futility ,another poorly scripted, rabble-rousing expedition clearly commissioned and funded by agents and proxies of the Imo State Government, who are visibly rattled by the unstoppable momentum gathering around our party and our principal, Dr. Chima Matthew Amadi (Mazi Gburugburu), ahead of the 2027 governorship contest,” he stated.

He added that CAD’s actions followed a familiar pattern.

“This is not the first time shadowy commercial activists have been mobilised to attack APP in Imo State. It is most unfortunate that Ngoforo and his loose coalition have simply inherited and upgraded the failed playbook of the now-disgraced Ethelbert Nnanna-led Greater Imo Initiatives , a ragtag assembly of hired noisemakers whose sole mandate was to undermine credible opposition platforms.”

Akuta insisted that no court had issued a final judgment deregistering APP.

“CAD’s so-called ‘historic legal action’ is nothing but recycled propaganda dressed in legal jargon. INEC, as recently as its latest published register of political parties, continues to recognise APP as a duly registered political party. No court of competent jurisdiction has ever declared otherwise in a final judgment binding on all parties,” he said.

He further claimed that the controversy was triggered by the recent defection of prominent politicians to APP.

“The timing of this stunt is instructive. Barely weeks after Mazi Chima Amadi and Rt. Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere publicly declared their membership of the party and began galvanising massive grassroots support across the three senatorial zones of Imo State, these sponsored attacks have intensified,” Akuta noted.

Describing CAD’s claim of non-partisanship as disingenuous, Akuta said the group had remained silent on alleged abuses by the state government.

“This is not patriotism; it is partisan hatchet jobbery wearing the mask of civil society,” he declared.

Akuta reaffirmed that APP remains a legally recognised national political party.

“APP remains a vibrant, constitutionally recognised national political party with functioning structures in Imo State and across the federation. Our membership drive continues unabated, and no press conference will distract or derail us,” he said.

He urged party members and supporters not to be distracted by what he termed “commercial activism and media showbiz.”

In a final message to CAD and its alleged sponsors, Akuta said, “Your repeated attempts are impotent and dead on arrival. APP is building, APP is growing, and APP, with the vision of Mazi Chima Amadi, is marching resolutely toward 2027. The future belongs to the people, not to propaganda.”