Breaking: INEC Boss Yakubu Dodges Arrest After Partial Court Compliance Sparks Controversy

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, narrowly escaped arrest by the Nigeria Police Force after only partially complying with a Federal High Court ruling requiring him to restore the leadership of the Action Alliance (AA) on INEC’s portal.

The judgment, delivered by Justice Funmilola Demi-Ajayi of the Federal High Court in Osogbo, Osun State, ordered Yakubu to reinstate Adekunle Rufai Omoaje as National Chairman of AA, along with the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) members elected at its October 7, 2023, national convention in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Justice Demi-Ajayi had given the INEC chairman a seven-day deadline last Monday to implement the order, warning that failure to comply would lead to his arrest by the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun.

While INEC uploaded the names of all state chairmen elected under Omoaje’s leadership, it did not restore Omoaje’s name as National Chairman. The commission also omitted the national secretariat address of the Omoaje-led executive and retained the name of expelled former chairman Kenneth Udeze on the portal, prompting fresh legal action from the party.

INEC submitted a motion claiming compliance, but the Action Alliance countered with an affidavit from its Osun chairman, Araoye Oyewole, asserting that Yakubu and INEC had failed to fully obey the court ruling.

In the affidavit dated October 2, 2025, Oyewole stated, “The judgment of the Court and orders made therein have not been fully complied with by the judgment debtors. The judgment debtors only partially complied with the judgment and orders of the court in suit number FHC/OS/CS/194/2024. While the names of all state chairmen elected under Hon. Adekunle Rufai Omoaje have been restored to the INEC state portal, the part of the judgment specifically mandating full recognition of Hon. Omoaje’s leadership has not been complied with.”