Arrest Warrant Issued For Ex-INEC Boss Mahmood Yakubu Over Contempt

A Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo, Osun State, has issued an order for the arrest and imprisonment of Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the immediate past Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), following a ruling on contempt of court. The order, delivered by Justice Adefunmilola Demi-Ajayi on Monday, September 29, 2025, came just before Professor Yakubu concluded his tenure at the electoral body on October 7, 2025. The core of the judgment stems from his failure to comply with a previous court order to re-enlist the national officers of the Action Alliance (AA) political party on the commission’s official website.

The committal proceedings were initiated following a suit filed by the Action Alliance, specifically the Rufai Omoaje-led National Executive, under the case file number FHC/OS/194/2024. This action sought to compel the electoral commission and its then-Chairman, Professor Yakubu, to restore the names of the party’s officials. The court’s initial judgment, delivered on February 17, 2025, mandated the relisting of the executive committee, which the party contended had been unlawfully removed from INEC’s portal.

A certified copy of the latest order, obtained on Wednesday, clearly states that the plaintiffs—comprising the Action Alliance, its state chairmen, and the aforementioned national executive—sought an order of committal against both INEC, as the first defendant, and Professor Yakubu, as the second defendant, for wilfully disobeying the February judgment.This legal move was brought pursuant to the Federal High Court’s Civil Procedure Rules and the Sheriffs and Civil Process Act, which empowers the court to enforce its judgments against recalcitrant parties.

The court’s ruling specifically directs the committal of the ‘contemnors’ to a Correctional Centre for their failure to respect and implement the judgment that favoured the Hon. Adekunle Rufai Omoaje-led National Committee of the Action Alliance. Furthermore, the order explicitly compelled the defendants to comply fully with the earlier judgment, including restoring the names of the state chairmen who had been unconstitutionally removed from the commission’s state portal. This highlights the judiciary’s insistence on upholding the rule of law, even against high-profile governmental figures.

In addition to the order for committal, Justice Demi-Ajayi also awarded a cost against the defendants for their contemptuous acts, which the court acknowledged resulted in “financial and private injuries” to the plaintiffs. The subsequent stepping down of Professor Yakubu as INEC Chairman does not negate the court’s pre-existing order, which was delivered before the official end of his tenure