Imo West Senatorial: Court Orders Okorocha, Araraume, Others’ Arrest over Alleged Criminal Conspiracy, Forgery

**Alex Enumah **in Abuja

A senior Magistrate Court in Abuja has issued a bench warrant for the arrest of former Imo State Governor, Senator Rochas Okorocha and a former Senator, Ifeanyi Araraume, and two others over alleged criminal conspiracy, forgery and tendering of false documents.

The two others are Timothy Ama Chuks and Amen Okorocha.

They are accused of forging and tendering false results of the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election for Imo West Senatorial, which presented Okorocha as winner of the May 18 primary election.

According to the court documents sighted by THISDAY, all police officers across Nigeria are, by the bench warrant authorised to seize Okorocha, Araraume, Timothy Chuks and Amen Okorocha and produce them before the Senior Magistrate Court 3 at Jiwa ,Abuja.

In the bench warrant dated September 9,2026 and issued by Ebiwari E Damini, the four defendants are charged with criminal conspiracy, forgery, perjury and uttering false documents.

In the case numbers CR/M/JW/084/2026, and CR/M/JW/085/2026, the matter is between the Inspector General of Police and the four wanted persons.

Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has asked both the Police and DSS to investigate Okorocha for allegedly parading fake APC primary results.

Besides, the electoral umpire has also disowned a document allegedly being circulated by Okorocha claiming that he won the primaries.

The commission in the separate letters to the DSS and Police stated that the authentic document by APC before it showed that Governor Hope Uzodimma won the primaries upon which his name was duly forwarded to it by the APC as the candidate for Imo West Senatorial Zone (Orlu Zone).

In the letter to the Commissioner of Police, Imo State Command, and his DSS counterpart, INEC declared the document allegedly being paraded by Okorocha as fake and urged the security agencies to investigate the former governor.

In the letter dated October 8, 2026 and signed by the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Imo State, Chukwuemeka C Ibeziako, INEC declared that it was reporting a case of “fraudulent and fictitious All Progressive Congress senatorial party primary report for Imo State dated May 18,2026.”

It raised the alarm that contrary to the document duly signed by APC and forwarded to its headquarters with Uzodimma as the clear winner of the primary election, the one circulating in the social media purported Okorocha as the winner, hence the petition.

“The fictitious document wrongly presented Senator Ethelbert Rochas Okorocha as the elected candidate for the party,” INEC stated.

While enclosing the original results it claimed declared Uzodimma as the rightful winner of the primary and the alleged fake one being paraded by Okorocha, INEC urged the police and the DSS to thoroughly investigate the forgery.

“In these circumstances, I urge you to graciously use your good offices to investigate and neutralise this spurious conduct that has serious likelihood of causing the breakdown of law and order in Imo State,” INEC charged the police and the DSS.