Get Guardian on GoogleA Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has issued a subpoena directing the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN), to appear before it and produce electoral documents relating to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 1999 Lagos State governorship election and the 2023 presidential election.
The subpoena was issued in connection with the ongoing criminal trial of human rights activist and African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, over his description of President Tinubu as a criminal.
The court order requires Amupitan to produce Tinubu’s INEC Form CF001 submitted during the 1999 governorship election, including an affidavit relating to lost certificates, as well as the Form CF001 submitted during the 2023 presidential election.
The subpoena, titled Subpoena Duces Tecum, was issued by Justice Mohammed Garba Umar in charge number FHC/CR/484/2025.
The INEC chairman was also served with a hearing notice on Monday, November 9, directing him to appear before the court and provide the requested documents as part of the defence’s case.
The development followed an application by Sowore’s defence team seeking to compel relevant individuals to testify and produce documents considered necessary for the activist’s defence.
The court also approved a subpoena against an All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Joe Igbokwe, as a proposed defence witness.
However, Justice Umar set aside an earlier subpoena issued against the Department of State Services (DSS) lead prosecuting counsel, Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), ruling against compelling the lawyer to testify in the case.
Sowore is being prosecuted by the DSS over publications in which he described Tinubu as a criminal, a description that triggered the ongoing legal dispute.
He is therefore requesting for electoral records relating to Tinubu’s political history, particularly his 1999 governorship contest in Lagos and his emergence as Nigeria’s President in 2023.
The subpoena issued to bring official electoral documents before the court for examination during the trial.
The matter was adjourned to November 11, 2026, for further proceedings.
