Former governor Rochas Okorocha finally reacts to arrest claims

• Former Imo governor Rochas Okorocha denied reports that police arrested and released him after one hour on Monday, October 12, 2026
• Okorocha's camp accused the Senator Hope Uzodinma-led Imo State Government of circulating false information as part of a witch-hunt
• The former governor claimed the court order cited to justify the alleged arrest had already been vacated by the same court five days after it was issued

Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over eight years of experience covering metro, government policy, and international issues

Former Imo State Governor and Senator Rochas Okorocha has publicly rejected claims that he was arrested by the police, calling the reports a deliberate campaign of falsehood orchestrated by the state government.

Okorocha's Chief Press Secretary and Special Adviser on Media, Sam Onwuemeodo, refuted the allegations and challenged anyone to prove otherwise.

Onwuemeodo made this known in a statement issued and made available to Legit.ng on Tuesday, October 12, 2026.

Okorocha, who governed Imo State between 2011 and 2019, directed his denial specifically at a claim that he had been detained and released within an hour, describing the story as entirely fabricated.

"Okorocha was never arrested. There was no bail. There was no statement. And let them prove us wrong," the statement read.

Okorocha vs Imo State government

The former governor traced the controversy to events on Monday, October 12, 2026, when the Imo State Government, through Information Commissioner Mbad iwe Emelumba, issued a lengthy press statement titled "BENCH WARRANT: OKOROCHA'S LIES."

That release, he said, was a response to an earlier challenge his camp had made, asking the state government to produce a valid court order authorising his arrest.

Okorocha argued that the court order the state government attached to its press release, dated September 9, 2026, had been nullified by the same court just five days later, on September 14, 2026.

The former governor said the order could not legally be enforced in October 2026.

"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. 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," he said.

Okorocha stands by his record

Okorocha insisted that the reports amounted to a witch-hunt by the Uzodinma administration, and that his camp would continue to defend his record of service to Imo State.

He framed the dispute as a contest between truth and falsehood, saying his side was committed to presenting only verified facts to the public.

Okorocha drags Uzodimma, APC to court

Legit.ng earlier reported that Rochas Okorocha filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja challenging INEC's recognition of Hope Uzodimma as APC's Imo West senatorial candidate.

Okorocha claimed he won the May 18 APC primary with 150,780 votes against Uzodimma's 102,158, but the returning officer declared Uzodimma the winner with 230,464 votes.

The case raised a constitutional question over whether Uzodimma, whose tenure as governor runs to January 2028, can legally contest the 2027 senatorial election.

Source: Legit.ng