By Sanni Abdullahi
ABUJA — Former Governor of Imo State and ex-lawmaker representing Imo West Senatorial District, Senator Rochas Okorocha, has been arrested by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force.
Okorocha was reportedly arrested on Monday night, October 12, 2026, at the REIZ Continental Hotel in Central Area, Abuja, in what police sources described as the execution of a bench warrant issued by a court.
The arrest is coming over allegations of criminal conspiracy, forgery and impersonation linked to a disputed All Progressives Congress, APC, senatorial primary for Imo West Senatorial District.
According to reports, the former governor had been under investigation following a petition over documents he allegedly circulated claiming to have won the APC senatorial primary for Imo West. The documents are said to be at variance with the authentic result submitted by the party.
It was gathered that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had written to the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services, DSS, disowning the document being paraded by Okorocha. INEC was said to have informed security agencies that the authentic APC document in its custody shows that Governor Hope Uzodimma won the primary and not Okorocha.
Sources said the police initially invited the former governor to appear at the Force Headquarters in Abuja on September 2, 2026, for questioning over the allegations. However, the invitation was rescheduled to September 8, 2026, at the request of his lawyers.
Despite the postponement, Okorocha was said to have failed to honour the invitation, prompting the police to approach the court for a bench warrant to compel his appearance.
A Senior Magistrate Court sitting in Abuja was said to have issued the bench warrant on September 9, 2026, not only for Okorocha but also for former Senator Ifeanyi Araraume, Timothy Ama Chuks and one Amen Okorocha, who were accused of conspiring with the former governor to forge and tender false APC results.
The warrant authorized all police officers across Nigeria to arrest the named persons and produce them before the court.
Okorocha, who served as governor of Imo State from 2011 to 2019 and later as Senator for Imo West from 2019 to 2023, was picked up at the Abuja hotel by plainclothes policemen who executed the warrant.
As at press time last night, the Nigeria Police Force had not issued an official statement on the arrest, and it was not clear whether the former governor would be arraigned in court immediately or granted administrative bail pending investigation.
Efforts to get reaction from Okorocha’s media team were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report.