ABUJA, Nigeria — A Senior Magistrate’s Court sitting in Abuja has issued bench warrants for the arrest of former Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, former Senator Ifeanyi Araraume and two others over allegations of criminal conspiracy, forgery and the uttering of false documents.
The other individuals named in the warrants are Timothy Ama Chuks and Amen Okorocha, who are accused, alongside the former governor, of conspiring to forge and present false All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial primary election results purportedly showing Okorocha as the winner.
The warrants authorise police officers across the country to arrest the four individuals and produce them before Senior Magistrate’s Court 3, Jiwa, Abuja, reports Channels TV.
The development comes amid a separate move by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to have the police and the Department of State Services (DSS) investigate Okorocha over his alleged circulation of a disputed APC primary election result.
According to the bench warrant dated September 9, 2026, the accused persons face allegations of criminal conspiracy, forgery and uttering false documents.
The cases, numbered CR/M/JW/084/2026 and CR/M/JW/085/2026, were instituted in the name of the Inspector-General of Police against the four individuals.
Meanwhile, INEC has disowned a document allegedly being circulated by Okorocha, which purportedly showed that he won the APC primary election for the Imo West Senatorial District, also known as Orlu Zone.
The electoral commission maintained that the authentic result submitted to it by the APC identified Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma as the winner of the primary election. It said the party subsequently forwarded Uzodimma’s name to its headquarters as its candidate for the senatorial district.
In a letter dated October 8, 2026, and addressed to the Commissioner of Police, Imo State Command, and the state’s DSS counterpart, INEC described the disputed document as fake and called for a thorough investigation.
The letter, signed by the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Imo State, Chukwuemeka Ibeziako, identified the matter as a case of a “fraudulent and fictitious All Progressives Congress senatorial party primary report for Imo State dated 18th May, 2026.”
INEC said the document being circulated on social media contradicted the result duly signed by the APC and forwarded to its headquarters, which declared Uzodimma the winner of the primary.
“The fictitious document wrongly presented Senator Ethelbert Rochas Okorocha as the elected candidate for the party,” the commission said.
The electoral body said it had enclosed copies of the original result declaring Uzodimma the winner and the disputed document allegedly being circulated in Okorocha’s name to assist the security agencies in their investigation.
INEC urged the police and the DSS to investigate the matter, warning that the alleged conduct could threaten public order in Imo State.
“In these circumstances, I urge you to graciously use your good offices to investigate and neutralise this spurious conduct that has a serious likelihood of causing the breakdown of law and order in Imo State,” the commission said.
The allegations against Okorocha and the other individuals remain allegations, and the issuance of the bench warrants does not, in itself, establish their guilt.
