PeakNews Online
The Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo, Osun State, has ordered the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, to arrest the immediate past Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, for alleged contempt of court.
The order came just hours after Prof. Yakubu formally exited office as the nation’s electoral umpire.
The directive followed a motion filed by the Action Alliance (AA) in a suit marked FHC/OS/CS/194/2024, in which the party accused INEC and its former chairman of failing to comply with a subsisting court judgment.
In the judgment delivered by Justice Funmilola Demi-Ajayi, the court had ordered INEC to recognise Adekunle Rufai Omoaje as the authentic National Chairman of the Action Alliance, alongside other members of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC). The court also directed the commission to upload the names of Omoaje and all state chairmen of the party on its official portal.
Justice Demi-Ajayi ruled that the elective convention of the Action Alliance held on October 7, 2023, which produced Omoaje and other NEC members, was valid, having been duly monitored and supervised by INEC in line with the party’s constitution and the Electoral Act.
Although INEC claimed to have complied with the judgment, the Action Alliance maintained that the commission failed to upload Omoaje’s name on its website as ordered by the court, despite uploading the names of other state chairmen and NEC members.
Frowning at the development, the court described INEC’s partial compliance as contemptuous.
A copy of the latest order, dated October 7, 2025, and signed by Mr. O.M. Kilani on behalf of the court registrar, reads in part:
“It is hereby ordered that the Inspector General of Police shall cause the arrest and shall charge the defendant/judgment debtors for contempt and committal proceedings within seven days of this ruling.”
The court further awarded a cost of ₦100,000 against the judgment creditors.
Joe
