By Ambrose Amos
Imo West senator's aide says reports are false, asks media houses to retract and apologise
The camp of former Imo State governor and former senator, Rochas Okorocha, has denied reports that a court issued an order for his arrest, and has challenged those behind the story to make the alleged order public within 48 hours.
In a press statement issued on Sunday and signed by his Chief Press Secretary and Special Adviser on Media, Sam Onwuemeodo, Okorocha's camp said no court, whether a Senior Magistrate Court or a High Court, had ordered or issued a bench warrant for his arrest.
The statement was a response to a story that began trending on Friday, October 9, under the caption "Court Orders Arrest of Okorocha, Araraume, Others for Criminal Conspiracy, Forgery." According to the statement, the story was first pushed out by one Ambrose Nwaogwugwu, a media aide to Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, and was later picked up by other media outfits, including Arise TV.
The report claimed a Senior Magistrate Court sitting in Abuja issued the bench warrant on September 9, 2026. It 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.
"Court order came before petition"
Okorocha's camp 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.
The camp also said 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.
Demand for retraction
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. If they fail to do so within 48 hours, it said, the media organisations that carried the story should retract it and apologise, which it described as "the most civilised thing to do."
The statement also urged media houses to scrutinise materials sent to them before publication, so as not to be used as "couriers of falsehood."
Appeal to Uzodimma's aides
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."
There was no immediate response from the Imo State Government, Nwaogwugwu or Arise TV at the time of this report.
0 Comments