A Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo, Osun State, has ordered the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to arrest the immediate past Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, over alleged contempt of court.
The dramatic order came barely hours after Yakubu officially vacated office as the nation’s chief electoral umpire.
Justice Funmilola Demi-Ajayi issued the ruling following a motion filed by the Action Alliance (AA), which accused the electoral body and its former chairman of disobeying a subsisting judgment delivered earlier this year in suit number FHC/OS/CS/194/2024.
In that judgment, the court had directed INEC to recognize and upload the names of Adekunle Rufai Omoaje as the National Chairman of the Action Alliance, alongside other members of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC), on its official portal. The court also affirmed that the party’s elective convention held on October 7, 2023, which produced Omoaje and other executives, was validly conducted and monitored by INEC officials in line with the party’s constitution and the Electoral Act.
However, despite claims of compliance, the Action Alliance maintained that INEC had failed to fully obey the judgment, as Omoaje’s name was still missing from the commission’s website — a situation that reportedly angered the court.
While the names of state chairmen and NEC members under Omoaje’s leadership had been uploaded, his own name remained excluded as of the time of the ruling.
The latest court order, dated October 7, 2025, and signed by O.M. Kilani on behalf of the Registrar, directed the IGP to arrest and charge Yakubu and other defendants for contempt within seven days.
The document 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.”
Additionally, the court awarded a cost of ₦100,000 against the judgment creditors.
As of press time, there has been no official reaction from the police authorities or the Independent National Electoral Commission regarding the development.
