The Independent National Electoral Commission has dismissed reports that it ignored a Federal High Court order in Osogbo, Osun State, over the leadership crisis in the Action Alliance party.
In a statement on Friday, the commission’s National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education, Sam Olumekun, said the reports were misleading and left out key facts about INEC’s actions after the court ruling.
“Our attention has been drawn to some media reports about an order made by the Federal High Court, Osogbo, on 29 September 2025, for the arrest of the immediate past INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, for allegedly disobeying its judgment in a case involving the Action Alliance,” Olumekun said.
“But these reports left out our immediate response and wrongly portrayed the matter as involving an individual instead of a corporate body. They also gave the false impression that the court issued a new order after its initial ruling,” he added.
Earlier reports had claimed the court ordered Yakubu’s arrest for failing to implement its judgment, which recognised a faction of the Action Alliance led by Rufai Omoaje. The court had ruled in favour of Omoaje’s group, validating its elective convention held in October 2023 in Abeokuta, and directing INEC to update its website with the names of the newly elected national and state executives.
Olumekun clarified that the commission had already complied with the court’s order by filing its processes at the Federal High Court, Osogbo, on October 6, 2025, which was still within the timeframe allowed by the court.
“In line with our long-standing tradition of obeying court judgments, we filed all necessary documents on Monday, October 6, 2025, to show that we had recognised the Action Alliance executive elected on October 7, 2023, in Abeokuta, Ogun State. The dashboard of the commission’s website showing compliance was also presented as evidence,” he explained.
However, he said the judgment creditors later filed a counter-affidavit, claiming INEC did not include Omoaje’s name as the party’s National Chairman.
“The commission responded by presenting the Notice of Appeal filed by the same Rufai Omoaje at the Supreme Court, challenging the Court of Appeal judgment that removed him as the National Chairman of the party,” Olumekun said.
He stressed that INEC could not recognise Omoaje as the Action Alliance chairman while the Court of Appeal’s decision remains valid.
“The judgment of the Court of Appeal is superior to that of the Federal High Court. Therefore, the commission cannot list Omoaje’s name as chairman of the party until that judgment is set aside,” he said.
INEC also urged journalists to verify information before publication to avoid spreading false reports.
“We appeal to media organisations to fact-check their reports before going public to prevent misleading the Nigerian people,” Olumekun stated.
