Contrary to the claims by former Imo State Governor, Senator Rochas Okorocha, that no bench warrant was issued for his arrest over alleged criminal conspiracy and forgery, the State Government has released court documents which it says confirm that the former governor remains a fugitive.
Okorocha, in a statement by his media aide, Sam Onwuemeodo, had given media houses that published the court order requesting police officers across Nigeria to arrest him 48 hours to produce evidence of the bench warrant or apologise.
The Imo State Government, however, disclosed that it was compelled to publish the court documents, which were already in the public domain, following insinuations by the former governor that it was behind his travails.
It explained that it had released not only a copy of the bench warrant but also a police invitation letter to Okorocha, indicating that he was being investigated for criminal conspiracy and forgery even before the petition by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Other documents published by the State Government reportedly showed that the former governor had evaded arrest after failing to make himself available on the date set by the Police Force Headquarters, Abuja.
The documents published by The Nation and The Sun newspapers on Monday included the bench warrant, the police invitation letter and a reply from Okorocha’s lawyers.
According to the Imo State Commissioner for Information, Public Orientation and Strategy, Hon. Declan Emelumba, the police, in a letter dated August 21, 2026, signed by DCP Aliyu Abubakar, summoned Okorocha to appear at the Force Headquarters on September 2, 2026, in connection with an investigation into alleged criminal conspiracy and forgery.
However, following a letter from Okorocha’s lawyers, D. Azipu Aka Chambers, the invitation was extended to September 8, 2026, a date the former governor allegedly failed to honour.
It was gathered that the police subsequently sought a bench warrant from the court for the arrest of the former governor and his alleged co-conspirators after he failed to honour the invitation.
Emelumba noted that the report on the court order did not state that the action was based on the petition submitted by INEC on September 9, 2026.
According to the Commissioner, the INEC petition, which sought an investigation into the same alleged offences of criminal conspiracy and forgery, was separate from the earlier police investigation, although both cases involved the former governor.
“The story of the petition by INEC against Okorocha was joined to that of the bench warrant because they were related in content, not because it arose from what transpired in Abuja. It is a normal practice in journalism. Okorocha, out of sheer mischief, decided to take it out of context,” he explained.
Emelumba said the documents had now established that the police obtained the bench warrant because Okorocha evaded arrest by failing to report to the Force Headquarters on the required date.
He said that, with the evidence now made public, the former governor should come out of hiding and surrender himself to the police.
