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Dares Uzodimma’s camp to publish warrant
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Former Governor of Imo State and Senator representing Imo West, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, has dismissed reports that a court has ordered his arrest over alleged criminal conspiracy and forgery, challenging those behind the report to make the court order public within 48 hours.
In a press release issued by his Chief Press Secretary and Special Adviser on Media, Sam Onwuemeodo, Okorocha described the report captioned “Court Orders Arrest of Okorocha, Araraume, Others for Criminal Conspiracy, Forgery” as false and politically motivated.
The release stated that the story was first pushed out by Hon. Ambrose Nwaogwugwu, a media aide to Governor Hope Uzodimma, before it was picked up by other media outfits, including Arise TV.
According to the statement, those behind the report claimed that a Senior Magistrate Court sitting in Abuja issued a Bench Warrant dated September 9, 2026, following a petition written by the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Imo State, Barr. Chukwuemeka Ibejiako, to the Police and DSS on October 8, 2026, over alleged presentation of fake APC primary results.
Okorocha’s camp, however, denied the existence of any such order.
“We want to strongly state, and we stand to be contradicted, that no court, whether that of Senior Magistrate or High Court, had ordered or issued any bench warrant for the arrest of Okorocha,” the statement read.
The former governor challenged anyone in possession of the purported court order to publish it.
“Now that we have openly made this denial, the burden now is on those behind the trending story to unveil the court order or bench warrant. Let them make it public within 48 hours,” Onwuemeodo said.
He also pointed out what he described as inconsistencies in the report, noting that the alleged bench warrant was dated September 9, 2026, while the REC’s petition that supposedly triggered it was dated October 8, 2026, with case number CR/M/084/2026.
“This is what you get when people decide to deceive, or to chase shadow,” he said, adding that INEC and the Imo REC never wrote any petition against Okorocha nor indicted him, but only asked security agencies to investigate a document in circulation that portrayed Okorocha as winner of the APC primary for Imo West Senatorial District.
The statement further demanded that after the expiration of the 48-hour ultimatum, media houses that published the report should retract the story and tender an apology.
It also cautioned media aides to the Imo State governor against insulting Okorocha and other leaders, including Senator Ifeanyi Araraume, and urged those genuinely supporting President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid to pursue peace as the 2027 general elections draw near.
“We ask the general public to disregard the court order story. There was nothing like that,” the statement concluded.
