Olushola Omogbehin
A Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo, Osun State, has ordered the arrest the immediate past Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, for disobeying court judgement.
The order which was given on Tuesday by Justice Funmilola Demi-Ajayi emanated from an application by the Action Alliance (AA), which accused the former INEC boss and the commission of failing to comply with a subsisting court judgment.
The court, in its pronouncement issued on Monday, September 29, 2025, prior to Yakubu’s departure, asserted that the head of the commission failed to enact the court’s ruling to reinstate national officers of the Action Alliance on its online platform.
The political party, through a case numbered FHC/OS/194/2024, sought a judicial decree compelling the INEC, under the stewardship of Professor Yakubu, to restore the names of the National Executive led by Rufai Omoaje, which had been unjustly excised from the Commission’s website.
Squel to this, Justice Funmilola Demi-Ajayi had in a suit number FHC/OS/CS/194/2024, ruled that INEC must recognise the leadership of Adekunle Omoaje as the authentic National Chairman of the Action Alliance, alongside members of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) elected at its October 7, 2023 convention. The court affirmed that the convention was properly monitored by INEC officials in line with the party’s constitution and the Electoral Act.
In spite of the judgment, Action Alliance said INEC had refused to comply fully because Omoaje’s name and those of other NEC members were yet to be uploaded on the commission’s official portal.
In a new ruling however, the court directed the IGP to enforce the order and initiate contempt proceedings against Yakubu within seven days.
The order stated: “It is hereby ordered that the IGP shall cause the arrest and shall charge the defendant/judgment debtors for contempt and committal proceedings within seven days of this ruling.”
Many Nigerians as a result of this have accused the former INEC boss of undermining Nigeria’s multi-party democratic system during his tenure by refusing to register many smaller political parties and treated them badly.
