The former governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, has dismissed allegations that police arrested him.
Okorocha, in a statement titled “We’ve Been Vindicated. Falsehood Has Never Prevailed Over Truth. Truth Is Sacred” and signed by Sam Onwuemeodo, his chief press secretary (CPS) and special adviser on media, insisted that he was neither detained nor released on bail.
The former governor accused the Imo State government of orchestrating what he described as a witch-hunt, maintaining that there was no valid court order authorising his arrest.
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“Again, their latest story that Owelle Okorocha was arrested and released after one hour is also not true. And we equally stand to be contradicted,” the statement reads.
“They tell the lies. We tell the truth. The whole truth. And nothing but the truth. They market falsehood. We market facts. The truth. Okorocha was never arrested. There was no bail. There was no statement. And let them prove us wrong.
“They attached the same court order they had made reference to, dated September 9, 2026, to the press release. Later, the same day, Monday, October 12, 2026, they came up with another cock and bull story that the former Governor Owelle Rochas Okorocha had been arrested.”
Okorocha, who was governor of Imo from 2011 to 2019, said he served the state to the best of his ability and would continue to defend his record.
The former governor insisted the court vacated the September 9, 2026 order on September 14.
“The court order they had used to deceive the general public was dated September 9, 2026. The same court order was vacated by the same court on September 14, 2026,” he said.
“You then ask, a court order issued on September 9, 2026, and vacated on September 14, 2026, by the same court that issued it, could it be alive in October 2026? The answer is expectedly, no.”
Okorocha’s denial contradicts the Nigeria Police Force’s (NPF) account. Aniete Iniedu, police spokesperson, disclosed in a recent interview that Okorocha was arrested at Reiz Continental Hotel in Abuja on Monday night and released on bail after an hour of interrogation.
The police said the arrest followed allegations of criminal conspiracy, forgery and impersonation.
The alleged arrest came days after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) petitioned the Department of State Services (DSS) and the police over a document circulating on social media that lists Okorocha as the winner of the APC primary for Imo West Senatorial District.