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.
The commission further questioned the relevance of the
subpoena to the criminal proceedings against Sowore, alleging that the request
was made in bad faith.
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 a 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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