The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking to invalidate a subpoena directing it to release documents relating to President Bola Tinubu’s 1999 Lagos State governorship election and his 2023 presidential election.
INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, SAN, filed the application challenging the subpoena, which was issued on November 6 during the ongoing cyberbullying trial of African Action Congress, AAC, presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore.
Through his counsel, Alex Izinyon, SAN, Amupitan is asking the court to declare the subpoena “void, unenforceable and contradictory.”
In the application, the INEC chairman argued that the subpoena was not personally served on him as stipulated by law. He also maintained that the documents requested by Sowore’s defence team were either improperly described or did not exist in the form specified.
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One of the grounds contained in the application reads: “The subpoena Duces Tecum dated 6/11/2026 as constituted is void ab initio, ungrantable, inconsistent and contradictory.”
The documents being sought by Sowore’s legal team include “INEC Form CF01 (inclusive of the ‘AFFIDAVIT IN RESPECT OF LOST CERTIFICATES’) of candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu as candidate for Lagos State Governorship in the Year 1999; and INEC Form CF01 of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as candidate for the 2023 Presidential election.”
However, Amupitan insisted that INEC does not have the requested records in its possession.
“No document known as INEC CF01 for the 1999 Lagos State Governorship Election or INEC Form CF01 for the 2023 Presidential Election exists as described, and such documents are not in the Applicant’s custody,” the application stated.
In an affidavit filed in support of the motion on notice, the electoral commission described the subpoena as “bad faith, irrelevant, fishy and speculative.”
INEC’s legal representatives also alleged that the request was designed to embarrass the commission, arguing that the documents sought had no direct bearing on the criminal allegations against Sowore.
The supporting affidavit stressed that the case was strictly between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the AAC presidential candidate.
It stated that “there is a criminal prosecution between the Federal Republic of Nigeria as the Complainant and Omoyele Sowore as Defendant.”
The affidavit further noted that “the Applicant (INEC Chairman) is not a party to the criminal prosecutions.”
Meanwhile, Justice Mohammed Umar has fixed November 17 for the continuation of Sowore’s cyberbullying trial.
The proceedings scheduled for Wednesday at the Federal High Court in Abuja could not hold after the presiding judge was reportedly absent due to cold.
In a related development, the court had on Monday approved another subpoena application by Sowore’s defence team, directing All Progressives Congress, APC, chieftain Joe Igbokwe to appear as a defence witness.
Sowore’s lawyers intend to question Igbokwe over his public comments and reactions to the activist’s social media publications, particularly posts in which the AAC presidential candidate described President Tinubu as a criminal.
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