Rochas Okorocha denies arrest but police insist he was arrested for forgery

A former governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, has denied being arrested by the police.

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PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that the Force Spokesperson Aniete Iniedu said the police arrested Mr Okorocha, a former senator, on Monday night at REIZ Continental Hotel in central Abuja.

Mr Iniedu, a chief superintendent of police, also said that the former governor was later released on bail after being interrogated for an hour.

But in a statement on Tuesday by his media aide Sam Onwuemeodo, Mr Okorocha claimed he was never arrested.

“(The) story that Owelle Okorocha was arrested, and released after one hour, is also not true. And we equally stand to be contradicted.

“There was no bail. There was no statement,” he claimed.

Police insist Okorocha was arrested and granted bail

However, when contacted on Tuesday afternoon, the force spokesperson, Mr Iniedu, insisted that Mr Okorocha was arrested on Monday and granted bail.

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“We released him on personal recognition. He is supposed to report to Force Headquarters later today. But up till now, we have not sighted him at the headquarters,” Mr Iniedu told PREMIUM TIMES at 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday.

Our reporter asked the spokesperson the reason for the arrest of the former governor.

“We received a petition of forgery and conspiracy against him.

“The Nigeria Police Force has sent the former governor Owelle Rochas Okorocha about three invitations which he ignored which necessitated our men to arrest him,” he responded.

Imo govt behind the story

Meanwhile, Mr Okorocha in the Tuesday statement also claimed that the Imo State Government was behind the story of his arrest which he described as false.

The former governor said the Commissioner of Information in Imo State, Declan Emelumba, on Monday, released a press statement captioned, “Bench warrant: Okorocha’s lies.”

The politician claimed the press statement came after he challenged those circulating the report to make public the bench warrant of arrest issued against him.

He claimed the information commissioner attached a copy of the purported bench warrant dated 9 September 2026.

“The same court order was vacated by the same court on 14 September, 2026,” he claimed.

Checks by PREMIUM TIMES showed that Mr Emelumba indeed issued the press statement and attached a copy of the bench warrant issued against the former governor.

However, this newspaper could not verify Mr Okorocha’s claim that the warrant of arrest against him dated 9 September 2026 had been vacated by the court on 14 September 2026.

Still in the Tuesday statement, Mr Okorocha claimed he had been quiet “in this matter” because the matter “is before a court of competent jurisdiction.”

“All these stampedes and lies could be adjudged subjudice and deliberate efforts to arm-twist the court which is very unfortunate,” he claimed.

The former governor was not specific about “the matter” before the court.

Background

Mr Okorocha was an APC aspirant for Imo West District.

The APC’s primary for the district was organised by the party on 18 May.

Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State won the primary and was later recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

However, there was controversy when a different document emerged which showed that Mr Okorocha had won the same APC primary.

The disputed document listed Mr Okorocha as the successful candidate with 150,780 votes despite the fact that initial results showed Mr Uzodimma scored 230,464 votes, while Mr Okorocha received 1,098 votes.

In October this year, INEC’s Imo State Office petitioned the SSS and the Nigeria Police Force over the disputed document.

In letters dated 5 October and 8 October, Mr Ibeziako, a lawyer, described the document naming Mr Okorocha as the winner as “fictitious”.

INEC maintained that the authentic report of the 18 May primary identified Mr Uzodimma as the winner and that the APC had forwarded his name to the electoral body as its candidate.

The commission then attached copies of both the official report and the disputed document to its petitions and asked the security agencies to investigate the document’s source and authenticity.

Meanwhile, in August, Mr Okorocha filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja against INEC, Mr Uzodimma and the APC.

The politician asked the court to determine whether INEC was bound by reports from its officials who monitored the 18 May senatorial primary and whether the commission was right to recognise Mr Uzodimma as the winner.

The former governor also raised a constitutional question concerning Mr Uzodimma’s eligibility to contest the 2027 senatorial election while still serving as governor.

Mr Uzodimma’s second term in office will elapse by January 2028 while the next Senate is expected to be inaugurated in June 2027.

READ ALOS: Police charge four with forgery in Anambra kingship dispute

Section 183 of the 1999 Constitution provides that a state governor cannot, while holding office, hold another executive office or paid employment.

However, PREMIUM TIMES understands that Mr Uzodimma had perfected plans to resign his position as governor before expiration of his tenure to switch to the Senate if he wins in the general election.

A report recently surfaced online which suggested that a “senior magistrate court” in Abuja on 9 September issued a bench warrant of arrest against Mr Okorocha and a former Senator, Ifeanyi Araraume as well as two others.

But Mr Okorocha refuted the report and challenged those circulating the report to make the warrant public.