A Senior Magistrate Court in Abuja has ordered the arrest of former Imo State governor Rochas Okorocha and ex-senator Ifeanyi Araraume over charges of criminal conspiracy, forgery, and uttering false documents related to All Progressives Congress (APC) primary results. The bench warrant, dated September 9, 2026, was issued in case numbers CR/M/JW/084/2026 and CR/M/JW/085/2026, with the Inspector-General of Police named as the opposing party.
Bench Warrants Issued for Four Individuals
The warrants also named Timothy Ama Chuks and Amen Okorocha, alleging they conspired with Okorocha to forge APC primary results that falsely declared him the winner. All police officers across Nigeria are authorised under the warrants to apprehend the four individuals and bring them before Senior Magistrate Court 3 at Jiwa, Abuja.
The court action follows a separate move by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which formally distanced itself from a document circulated by Okorocha that purported he won the APC senatorial primary for Imo West (Orlu zone).
INEC Disowns Document Circulated by Okorocha
In a letter dated October 8, 2026, signed by Imo State Resident Electoral Commissioner Chukwuemeka Ibeziako, INEC wrote to both the Commissioner of Police in Imo State and the state's Department of State Services (DSS) director. The commission described the circulating document as a "fraudulent and fictitious All Progressives Congress senatorial party primary report for Imo State dated 18th May, 2026."
INEC said the genuine document submitted by the APC to its headquarters named Governor Hope Uzodimma as the clear winner of the primary and the party's candidate for the Imo West Senatorial Zone. "The fictitious document wrongly presented Senator Ethelbert Rochas Okorocha as the elected candidate for the party," the commission said.
Security Agencies Urged to Act
INEC enclosed both the original results and the allegedly forged version when submitting its petition, urging the security agencies to take firm action. "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," Ibeziako wrote.
The combined action by the court and INEC significantly raises the legal and political stakes for Okorocha, who has been locked in a bitter contest over the APC senatorial ticket ahead of the 2027 general elections.
