Former Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha has denied reports that he was arrested and released after an hour, insisting that no valid court order exists for his arrest.
Okorocha, through his Chief Press Secretary and Special Adviser on Media, Sam Onwuemeodo, also accused the Imo State Government of misleading the public over the matter and demanded an apology.
In a statement dated October 12, 2026, Onwuemeodo said the government had issued a release through the state Commissioner for Information, Mbadiwe Emelumba, titled “Bench Warrant: Okorocha’s Lies,” in response to the former governor’s demand for a copy of the court order allegedly issued against him.
According to the statement, the government attached a court order dated September 9, 2026, to its response. However, Okorocha’s camp claimed that the same court vacated the order on September 14, arguing that it could therefore no longer be relied upon in October.
The former governor’s spokesman also rejected the subsequent report that Okorocha had been arrested and released after about an hour.
“Okorocha was never arrested. There was no bail. There was no statement. And let them prove us wrong,” Onwuemeodo said.
He maintained that the former governor’s position remained that no subsisting court order authorised his arrest and called on the state government to apologise for what he described as misleading information circulated to the public.
The statement further addressed petitions reportedly written by the Imo State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Chukwuemeka Ibejiako, dated October 8, 2026. Onwuemeodo said Emelumba had clarified that the September 9 court order was unrelated to those petitions.
He added that the matter was before a court of competent jurisdiction, explaining that Okorocha had remained silent because of the ongoing legal proceedings. He warned that public statements on the dispute could be viewed as attempts to influence the court.
The latest exchange follows a dispute between Okorocha’s camp and the Imo State Government over the alleged bench warrant and reports surrounding the former governor’s arrest.
The state government’s position, as presented in its earlier statement, differs from Okorocha’s account. The claims regarding the alleged arrest and the status of the court order could not be independently verified from the statement provided.
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