Former Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha has denied reports that a magistrate court issued a bench warrant for his arrest over alleged forgery, challenging those behind the publication to make the purported court order public within 48 hours.

Okorocha, through a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary and Special Adviser on Media, Sam Onwuemeodo, described the report as false and urged the public to disregard it.

The former governor questioned the timeline presented in the report, which alleged that the warrant was issued following a petition dated October 8, 2026, arguing that it was unlikely that the relevant investigations and court processes could have been completed within a day.

He maintained that neither a senior magistrate court nor a High Court had issued a bench warrant for his arrest.

“Now that we have openly made this denial, the burden now is on those behind the trending story of the court order for the arrest of Okorocha to unveil the court order or bench warrant,” the statement said.

Okorocha also challenged the report’s account of the dates, noting that it referred to a warrant allegedly issued on September 9, 2026, despite stating that the petition prompting the action was dated October 8, 2026.

He cited case number CR/M/084/2026, arguing that the chronology presented in the report suggested that the purported court order preceded both the petition and the filing of the case.

The former governor further denied that the Independent National Electoral Commission or its Resident Electoral Commissioner for LMO, Barrister Ibejiako, had petitioned against him or requested an investigation into his activities.

According to the statement, the petition allegedly submitted by the electoral commission official asked the police and the Department of State Services to investigate a document circulating online that purportedly identified Okorocha as the winner of the All Progressives Congress primary for the LMO West Senatorial District.

Okorocha argued that the petition, said to have been dated Thursday, October 8, could not reasonably have resulted in completed investigations by the police and DSS before reports of the alleged warrant began circulating on Friday, October 9.

He maintained that the timeline raised questions about the credibility of the report and insisted that those making the allegation should provide documentary evidence to support their claims.

The former governor also urged members of the public to disregard the report, adding that the All Progressives Congress needed peace at the moment.