The Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo, Osun State, has ordered the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, to arrest Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), for contempt of court. The order follows Yakubu's failure to comply with a court mandate.
The contempt case was brought by the Action Alliance political party, which accused INEC and its chairman of ignoring a court order to recognize the outcome of an emergency party convention that elected Chief Omoaje Njoku as its national chairman. The court gave INEC and Yakubu seven days to reinstate all elected chairmen under Njoku’s leadership, with a ₦100,000 cost awarded against the INEC chairman for disobedience.
The refusal to obey the court order led to the issuance of a bench warrant for Yakubu's arrest, signaling the judiciary’s firm stance on enforcing compliance of court judgments. This development marks a critical moment in the ongoing tussle involving INEC’s role in political party affairs and its adherence to judicial directives.