Court Orders IGP to Arrest Former INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu for Contempt

A Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo, Osun State, has ordered the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to arrest the former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, over contempt of court. The order was issued just hours after Yakubu officially left office as INEC chairman.

The directive followed a suit filed by the Action Alliance (AA) against INEC and its former chairman, accusing them of failing to comply with a previous judgment delivered by Justice Funmilola Demi-Ajayi in case number FHC/OS/CS/194/2024. The court had earlier ordered INEC to recognize Adekunle Rufai Omoaje as the legitimate National Chairman of the Action Alliance and to list his name, along with other members of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) and state chairmen, on the commission’s official portal.

Justice Demi-Ajayi had affirmed that the party’s elective convention held on October 7, 2023—which produced Omoaje and other NEC members—was valid, noting that it was properly conducted and monitored by INEC officials in line with the party’s constitution and the Electoral Act.

While INEC claimed to have complied with the court’s directive, the Action Alliance disputed this, insisting that Omoaje’s name remained absent from the commission’s website despite repeated court orders. As of press time, the names of the state chairmen and NEC members had been uploaded, but Omoaje’s name was still missing, a development the court described as a deliberate act of disobedience.

In a document dated October 7, 2025, and signed by O. M. Kilani on behalf of the Court Registrar, the court ordered the Inspector General of Police to arrest Yakubu and initiate contempt and committal proceedings within seven days. The court also imposed a cost of ₦100,000 against the judgment creditors.