The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to set aside a subpoena compelling it to produce President Bola Tinubu’s electoral documents relating to the 1999 Lagos State governorship election and the 2023 presidential election.
The application was filed by INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, through his lawyer, Dr Alex Izinyon, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, in the ongoing criminal trial of human rights activist Omoyele Sowore.
In the motion dated November 10, 2026, Amupitan asked the court to nullify the subpoena issued by Justice Mohammed Garba Umar on October 26.
The subpoena directed the INEC chairman to appear in court and produce Tinubu’s Form CF001, including an affidavit relating to lost certificates submitted during his 1999 governorship candidacy in Lagos State.
It also sought the corresponding nomination document submitted by the President ahead of the 2023 presidential election.
However, INEC argued that the subpoena was defective, contradictory and unenforceable.
The commission maintained that Amupitan was not personally served with the court process as required by law, although the subpoena was delivered to INEC’s Litigation and Prosecution Department at its Abuja headquarters on November 6.
It also argued that there was no form known as INEC CF01 for either the 1999 Lagos governorship election or the 2023 presidential election in the manner described in the subpoena.
According to the commission, the documents requested were not in the custody of its chairman in the specified form.
INEC further contended that Amupitan was not a party to the criminal proceedings and was not the maker of the documents being sought by the defence.
In its application, the electoral body described the subpoena as “void ab initio, ungrantable, inconsistent and contradictory”.
It also accused Sowore’s defence team of acting in bad faith and seeking to embarrass the commission through the request.
Sowore Seeks Electoral Documents
The subpoena followed an application by Sowore’s defence team, led by Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, SAN, seeking to compel INEC and other individuals to provide evidence considered relevant to his defence.
The case, marked FHC/CR/484/2025, involves the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Sowore, who is being prosecuted by the Department of State Services over social media publications in which he described Tinubu as a criminal.
Sowore has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Apart from the INEC chairman, the court also approved a subpoena compelling All Progressives Congress chieftain Joe Igbokwe to appear as a defence witness.
However, Justice Umar set aside an earlier subpoena seeking to compel the DSS’s lead prosecuting counsel, Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, to testify in the case.
Sowore criticised INEC’s decision to challenge the subpoena, questioning why the commission was seeking to avoid producing the electoral documents requested by his lawyers.
The Federal High Court is yet to determine INEC’s application to set aside the subpoena.
The outcome will determine whether the electoral commission’s chairman must appear in court and produce the specified documents as requested by the defence.
