A former governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, has denied being arrested by means of the police.
PREMIUM TIMES previous reported that the Power Spokesperson Aniete Iniedu stated the police arrested Mr Okorocha, a former senator, on Monday evening at REIZ Continental Lodge in central Abuja.
Mr Iniedu, a main superintendent of police, additionally stated that the previous governor was once later launched on bail after being interrogated for an hour.
However in a observation on Tuesday by means of his media aide Sam Onwuemeodo, Mr Okorocha claimed he was once by no means arrested.
“(The) tale that Owelle Okorocha was once arrested, and launched after one hour, may be no longer true. And we similarly stand to be contradicted.
“There was once no bail. There was once no observation,” he claimed.
Police insist Okorocha was once arrested and granted bail
Alternatively, when contacted on Tuesday afternoon, the pressure spokesperson, Mr Iniedu, insisted that Mr Okorocha was once arrested on Monday and granted bail.
“We launched him on non-public popularity. He’s intended to report back to Power Headquarters later nowadays. However up until now, we now have no longer sighted him on the headquarters,” Mr Iniedu advised PREMIUM TIMES at 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday.
Our reporter requested the spokesperson the cause of the arrest of the previous governor.
“We gained a petition of forgery and conspiracy in opposition to him.
“The Nigeria Police Power has despatched the previous governor Owelle Rochas Okorocha about 3 invites which he left out which necessitated our males to arrest him,” he answered.
Imo government at the back of the tale
In the meantime, Mr Okorocha within the Tuesday observation additionally claimed that the Imo State Govt was once at the back of the tale of his arrest which he described as false.
The previous governor stated the Commissioner of Data in Imo State, Declan Emelumba, on Monday, launched a press observation captioned, “Bench warrant: Okorocha’s lies.”
The baby-kisser claimed the click observation got here after he challenged the ones circulating the report back to make public the bench warrant of arrest issued in opposition to him.
He claimed the ideas commissioner hooked up a duplicate of the purported bench warrant dated 9 September 2026.
“The similar courtroom order was once vacated by means of the similar courtroom on 14 September, 2026,” he claimed.
Tests by means of PREMIUM TIMES confirmed that Mr Emelumba certainly issued the press statement and hooked up a duplicate of the bench warrant issued in opposition to the previous governor.
Alternatively, this newspaper may no longer test Mr Okorocha’s declare that the warrant of arrest in opposition to him dated 9 September 2026 have been vacated by means of the courtroom on 14 September 2026.
Nonetheless within the Tuesday observation, Mr Okorocha claimed he have been quiet “on this topic” since the topic “is earlier than a courtroom of competent jurisdiction.”
“Most of these stampedes and lies may well be adjudged subjudice and planned efforts to arm-twist the courtroom which may be very unlucky,” he claimed.
The previous governor was once no longer explicit about “the topic” earlier than the courtroom.
Background
Mr Okorocha was once an APC aspirant for Imo West District.
The APC’s number one for the district was once organised by means of the birthday party on 18 Would possibly.
Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State won the principle and was once later recognised by means of the Unbiased Nationwide Electoral Fee (INEC).
Alternatively, there was once controversy when a distinct file emerged which confirmed that Mr Okorocha had received the similar APC number one.
The disputed file indexed Mr Okorocha because the a success candidate with 150,780 votes even supposing preliminary effects confirmed Mr Uzodimma scored 230,464 votes, whilst Mr Okorocha gained 1,098 votes.
In October this 12 months, INEC’s Imo State Administrative center petitioned the SSS and the Nigeria Police Power over the disputed file.
In letters dated 5 October and eight October, Mr Ibeziako, a legal professional, described the file naming Mr Okorocha because the winner as “fictitious”.
INEC maintained that the original record of the 18 Would possibly number one known Mr Uzodimma because the winner and that the APC had forwarded his identify to the electoral frame as its candidate.
The fee then hooked up copies of each the respectable record and the disputed file to its petitions and requested the protection businesses to analyze the file’s supply and authenticity.
In the meantime, in August, Mr Okorocha filed a suit on the Federal Prime Courtroom in Abuja in opposition to INEC, Mr Uzodimma and the APC.
The baby-kisser requested the courtroom to resolve whether or not INEC was once sure by means of stories from its officers who monitored the 18 Would possibly senatorial number one and whether or not the fee was once proper to recognise Mr Uzodimma because the winner.
The previous governor additionally raised a constitutional query regarding Mr Uzodimma’s eligibility to contest the 2027 senatorial election whilst nonetheless serving as governor.
Mr Uzodimma’s 2d time period in administrative center will elapse by means of January 2028 whilst the following Senate is predicted to be inaugurated in June 2027.
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Segment 183 of the 1999 Charter supplies {that a} state governor can not, whilst conserving administrative center, hang every other government administrative center or paid employment.
Alternatively, PREMIUM TIMES understands that Mr Uzodimma had perfected plans to renounce his place as governor earlier than expiration of his tenure to change to the Senate if he wins within the normal election.
A record not too long ago surfaced on-line which instructed {that a} “senior Justice of the Peace courtroom” in Abuja on 9 September issued a bench warrant of arrest in opposition to Mr Okorocha and a former Senator, Ifeanyi Araraume in addition to two others.
However Mr Okorocha refuted the record and challenged the ones circulating the report back to make the warrant public.
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