A Senior Magistrate’s Court sitting in Jiwa, Abuja, has issued a bench warrant for the arrest of former Imo State Governor, Senator Rochas Okorocha, and former Senator Ifeanyi Araraume over allegations of criminal conspiracy, forgery and uttering false documents in connection with the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial primary for the Imo West, also known as Orlu, senatorial zone.
The warrant, dated September 9, 2026, also lists Timothy Ama Chuks and Amen Okorocha as defendants in the case, which centres on allegations that the four conspired to forge and present false APC primary election results declaring Senator Okorocha the winner of the party’s senatorial primary in Imo West.
The court authorised police officers across Nigeria to arrest the four individuals and bring them before Senior Magistrate’s Court 3 in Jiwa, Abuja.
The matter is registered under case numbers CR/M/JW/084/2026 and CR/M/JW/085/2026, with the Inspector-General of Police listed as the complainant. The charges cited in the proceedings are criminal conspiracy, forgery and uttering false documents.
In a related development, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has written to the Commissioner of Police in Imo State and the state’s Department of State Services (DSS) counterpart, disowning a document circulating publicly that identifies Senator Okorocha as the winner of the APC senatorial primary.
INEC maintained that the authentic result submitted to the Commission by the APC identified Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma as the winner of the primary. According to the electoral body, the party officially forwarded Governor Uzodimma’s name to it as its candidate for the Imo West Senatorial District.
The letter, dated October 8, 2026, was signed by the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Imo State, Barrister Chukwuemeka C. Ibeziako. In the correspondence, the Commission reported what it described as a “fraudulent and fictitious All Progressives Congress Senatorial party primary report for Imo State dated 18th May, 2026.”
INEC explained that while the result signed by the APC and submitted to its headquarters showed Governor Uzodimma as the winner, a different document circulating on social media claimed that Senator Okorocha had won the primary.
The Commission stated that the disputed document “wrongly presented Senator Ethelbert Rochas Okorocha as the elected candidate for the party.”
As part of its correspondence, INEC attached both the result it identified as the original document declaring Governor Uzodimma the winner and the document it described as fake. It subsequently requested that the police and the DSS investigate the alleged forgery.
In urging the security agencies to intervene, the Commission warned that the circulation of the disputed document could threaten public order in the 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 letter stated