No Court Ordered for My Arrest, Rochas Okorocha Insists

Amby Uneze in Owerri

Former Imo State Governor and former Senator, Rochas Okorocha has denied reports that a court issued an order for his arrest, just as he challenged those behind the story to make the alleged order public.

A statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary and Special Adviser on Media, Sam Onwuemeodo, stressed that no court, whether a Senior Magistrate Court or a High Court, ordered or issued a bench warrant for his arrest.

A report had alleged that a Senior Magistrate Court sitting in Abuja had issued the bench warrant on against the former Governor and Ifeanyi Ararume. It had 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 aide 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.

It further noted that the REC never petitioned against Okorocha or asked that he be investigated, and did not indict him.

According to the statement, Ibejiako only asked the Police and DSS to investigate a document in circulation that portrayed Okorocha as the winner of the APC primary for Imo West Senatorial District.

It further questioned the timeline, noting that the petition was dated Thursday, October 8. It asked whether the Police and DSS could have concluded their investigations and obtained a court order in less than 24 hours, before the story began trending on Friday. “The answer is No,” it said.

The camp said the burden now rests on those behind the story to publish the court order or bench warrant, along with the name of the magistrate involved, stating that If they fail to do so within 48 hours and demanded retraction.

The statement also urged media houses to scrutinise materials sent to them before publication, so as not to be used as “couriers of falsehood.”

Okorocha’s camp also advised the governor’s media aides to stop insulting him and other political leaders, including Senator Ifeanyi Araraume. It described Okorocha as a two-term former governor, former senator and a prominent Igbo leader.

With the presidential election less than 90 days away, the statement added, anyone who genuinely supports President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027 should “desire peace, pursue peace and ensure peace,” adding that this is not the time for crisis.

The camp asked the public to disregard the report, insisting “there was nothing like that. No such incident.”