Court Orders Arrest of Former INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu Over Alleged Contempt

T The Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo, Osun State, has ordered the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to arrest the immediate past Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, for alleged contempt of court.

The arrest order, issued on October 7, 2025—just hours after Yakubu vacated office—stemmed from a suit filed by the Action Alliance (AA) accusing INEC and its former chairman of disobeying a subsisting court judgment.

The judgment, delivered earlier by Justice Funmilola Demi-Ajayi in suit number FHC/OS/CS/194/2024, had directed INEC to publish on its official website the names of the AA National Chairman, Adekunle Rufai Omoaje, and other members of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC).

Justice Demi-Ajayi had also upheld the legitimacy of the party’s elective convention held on October 7, 2023, which produced Omoaje as chairman, affirming that the process was properly conducted and monitored by INEC officials in line with the Electoral Act and the party’s constitution.

While INEC maintained that it had complied with the judgment, the Action Alliance disagreed, alleging that Omoaje’s name remained omitted from the commission’s website despite the inclusion of other NEC members and state chairmen.

In the fresh order signed by court official O.M. Kilani, the court directed the Inspector General of Police to arrest Professor Yakubu and commence contempt and committal proceedings against him within seven days. The court also awarded ?100,000 in costs against the judgment creditors.