The camp of former Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, has denied reports that he was arrested by the police in Abuja, challenging the authorities to provide evidence to substantiate the claim.
Okorocha’s Chief Press Secretary and Special Adviser on Media, Sam Onwuemeodo, insisted that the former governor was neither arrested nor granted bail, directly contradicting the Nigeria Police Force’s account of the incident.
The police had confirmed that Okorocha was arrested on Monday night at the REIZ Continental Hotel in Abuja and released on bail after about an hour of interrogation over allegations of criminal conspiracy, forgery and impersonation.
The Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Anietie Iniedu, said the former governor had been directed to return to the Force Headquarters for further questioning as investigations continued.
However, in a statement titled ‘Arrest Warrant: We’ve Been Vindicated. Falsehood Has Never Prevailed Over Truth. Truth Is Sacred’, Onwuemeodo dismissed the police account as untrue.
“His Excellency, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, was never arrested,” he declared, challenging the authorities to prove otherwise.
The denial followed a dispute between Okorocha’s camp and the Imo State Government over a court order reportedly used to justify the former governor’s arrest.
The state government, through its Commissioner for Information, Mbadiwe Emelumba, had defended the reported arrest warrant after Okorocha’s camp demanded that it produce the court order.
Onwuemeodo said the government attached an order dated September 9, 2026, to its statement but argued that the same order had been vacated by the issuing court on September 14.
He questioned the basis for relying on the order in October, insisting that it was no longer valid.
“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,” he said.
The media aide also maintained that the state government had clarified that the court order was unrelated to petitions submitted by the Imo State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Chukwuemeka Ibeziako, on October 8.
He consequently demanded an apology from the state government, accusing it of misleading Nigerians about the status of the court order.
“We still ask for an apology from them, for deceiving Nigerians, both at home and in the diaspora,” he said.
Onwuemeodo also challenged the police to provide evidence that Okorocha had been arrested, interrogated and released on bail.
“Their latest story that Owelle Okorocha was arrested and released after one hour is also not true. And we equally stand to be contradicted,” he added.
The police, however, maintained that Okorocha was arrested in connection with allegations of criminal conspiracy, forgery and impersonation. The allegations have not been established in court.
According to the police account, the arrest followed the former governor’s failure to honour previous invitations for questioning. He was initially invited to the Force Headquarters on September 2, but the appointment was reportedly rescheduled to September 8 at the request of his lawyers. He was said to have failed to attend the rescheduled meeting.
The latest controversy is linked to the political dispute between Okorocha and Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, over the All Progressives Congress primary for the Imo West Senatorial District ahead of the 2027 general election.
Uzodimma was declared the winner of the primary and recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission, which said the official results showed that the governor polled 230,464 votes, while Okorocha received 1,098 votes.
However, a separate document later circulated, purportedly showing that Okorocha won the primary with 150,780 votes.
INEC’s Imo Resident Electoral Commissioner, Chukwuemeka Ibeziako, subsequently petitioned the police and the Department of State Services to investigate the disputed document, which the commission described as fictitious.
The petitions alleged that the document contradicted the authentic results submitted to INEC. The allegations remain subject to investigation.
Okorocha has since filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1854/2026, challenging the outcome of the primary and INEC’s recognition of Uzodimma as the party’s candidate.
The former governor is asking the court to determine whether the commission acted correctly in recognising Uzodimma, citing the disputed results and other issues raised in his suit.
He has also questioned Uzodimma’s eligibility to contest the 2027 senatorial election while serving as governor, urging the court to consider the relevant constitutional provisions.
Onwuemeodo said Okorocha had refrained from making further public comments because the matter was before the court, warning against statements that could be construed as attempts to influence judicial proceedings.
The police investigation into the allegations was ongoing as of the time of filing this report.
