Photo: Omoyele Sowore and INEC chairman Joash Amupitan — Premium Times
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to set aside a subpoena ordering its chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, to appear in court on Wednesday and produce President Bola Tinubu's election records for 1999 and 2023.
The records are sought by the defence in the trial of activist Omoyele Sowore, who is being prosecuted by the State Security Service (SSS) over social media posts in which he called President Tinubu a criminal and made claims about the president's academic records. The case, marked FHC/CR/484/2025, is before Justice Mohammed Umar.
What the subpoena ordered Amupitan to produce
The subpoena, issued on 26 October, directed Amupitan to produce Tinubu's Form CF001 for the 1999 Lagos governorship election, including an affidavit relating to lost certificates, together with his nomination form for the 2023 presidential election.
It also directed the INEC chairman to testify for the defence. The order followed an application by Sowore's defence team, led by Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, SAN. The court also approved a subpoena against Joe Igbokwe, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress.
Why INEC wants the subpoena thrown out
In a motion filed on Tuesday through its lawyer, Alex Izinyon, SAN, INEC described the subpoena as "void ab initio, ungrantable, inconsistent and contradictory."
The commission said Amupitan was not personally served, as the law requires. It said there is no form known as INEC CF01 for the 1999 or 2023 elections, and that the documents, as described, are unknown to it and not in the chairman's custody.
INEC also accused the defence of bringing the application in bad faith to embarrass the commission, adding that Amupitan is not a party to the case and was not the maker of the documents, so he cannot give evidence about them.
Sowore reacts to INEC's court move
Sowore disclosed the filing on Tuesday and accused the commission of trying to evade producing the documents. "Why is INEC fighting a court order demanding records that should be in its custody?" he asked. He insisted the records must be produced on Wednesday.
What happens next in the Sowore trial
A hearing notice served on Amupitan on Monday directed him to appear on Wednesday, 11 November, when the court is due to sit again. Whether the judge grants INEC's application — or orders its chairman to appear with the president's records — will be decided within hours.
Credit: Premium Times (Nov 10, 2026).
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