Court Threatens Arrest as INEC Partly Obeys Order on Party Leadership

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, narrowly avoided arrest by the Nigeria Police Force after partly complying with a judgment of the Federal High Court in Osogbo, Osun State.

The court had directed him to restore the names of Adekunle Rufai Omoaje as the National Chairman of the Action Alliance (AA) and members of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) on the INEC portal.

The Action Alliance held its national convention on October 7, 2023, at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, Ogun State, where Omoaje and other executives were elected.

However, their names were reportedly omitted from INEC’s official records, prompting the party to approach the court.Justice Funmilola Demi-Ajayi, who presided over the case, had last week ordered the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to arrest Professor Yakubu if he failed to comply with the directive within seven days.

The order also required INEC to upload the names of all state chairmen elected under Omoaje’s leadership.INEC was said to have complied only partially with the ruling by restoring the names of the NEC members but leaving out Omoaje’s name and the address of the national secretariat of the party led by him.

In addition, the name of Kenneth Udeze, a suspended and expelled member of the party, reportedly remained on the INEC website, contrary to the court’s ruling delivered on September 29, 2025.INEC later filed a motion on notice before the court claiming that it had complied with the judgment.

However, the Osun State chairman of the Action Alliance, Araoye Oyewole, filed a counter affidavit insisting that INEC and its chairman had failed to obey the judgment in full.

According to the affidavit, only the names of the state chairmen were restored, while the sections of the judgment recognizing Omoaje’s leadership were ignored.

The party asked the court to compel Professor Yakubu and INEC to fully comply with the earlier ruling.The court is expected to determine the next step after reviewing the filings from both sides.