Amby Uneze in Owerri
The camp of a former governor of Imo State and former senator, Rochas Okorocha, has denied reports that a court issued an order for his arrest, and has challenged those behind the story to make the alleged order public within 48 hours.
In a press statement by his Chief Press Secretary and Special Adviser on Media, Sam Onwuemeodo, Okorocha’s camp said no court, whether a Senior Magistrate Court or a High Court, had ordered or issued a bench warrant for his arrest.
The statement was a response to a story that began trending on Friday, October 9, with the caption: “Court Orders Arrest of Okorocha, Araraume, Others for Criminal Conspiracy, Forgery.”
According to the statement, the story was first pushed out by one Ambrose Nwaogwugwu, a media aide to Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, and was later picked up by other media outfits.
The report claimed a Senior Magistrate Court sitting in Abuja issued the bench warrant on September 9, 2026.
It linked the order to a petition by the Imo State Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Chukwuemeka Ibejiako, addressed to the Police and the Department of State Services (DSS), asking them to investigate Okorocha and others for allegedly presenting fake All Progressives Congress (APC) primary results.
Okorocha’s camp pointed to what it called a glaring inconsistency in the report. The petition was dated October 8, 2026, and the case number cited was CR/M/084/2026, yet the bench warrant was said to have been issued a month earlier.
“In other words, the Court Order came before the petitions, and before the filing of the case,” the statement said.