The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan (SAN), has approached the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking to set aside a subpoena compelling the commission to produce President Bola Tinubu’s electoral records relating to his 1999 Lagos State governorship and 2023 presidential elections.

The subpoena was obtained by the defence team of human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, who is facing prosecution over comments in which he described Tinubu as a criminal.

Amupitan, through his counsel, Dr Alex Izinyon (SAN), filed a motion on notice dated November 10, 2026, asking the court to set aside the subpoena issued by Justice Mohammed Garba Umar on October 26.

The subpoena, served at INEC headquarters in Abuja on November 6, directed the commission’s chairman to produce Tinubu’s Form CF001, including an affidavit relating to lost certificates submitted during his 1999 Lagos governorship candidacy, as well as the corresponding document submitted for the 2023 presidential election.

However, in his application, the INEC chairman described the subpoena as defective, contradictory and unenforceable.

He argued that it was not personally served on him as required by law and that the documents specified in the subpoena were not in the commission’s custody in the form described.

Amupitan further maintained that no form known as CF01 existed for the 1999 Lagos State governorship election or the 2023 presidential election in the manner described in the subpoena.

The application, brought pursuant to Section 6(6) of the 1999 Constitution, also accused the defence of seeking the documents in bad faith and for purposes unrelated to the criminal proceedings.

One of the grounds cited in the application described the subpoena as “void ab initio, ungrantable, inconsistent and contradictory”.

In an affidavit supporting the application, a litigation secretary in Izinyon’s law firm, Mendie Akan, said the subpoena was served on INEC’s Litigation and Prosecution Department at its Abuja headquarters at about 12:30pm on November 6.

Akan, who said she was authorised by the INEC chairman and her employers to depose to the affidavit, maintained that Amupitan was not personally served and was neither a party to the criminal proceedings nor the maker of the documents being sought.

She further alleged that the subpoena was obtained in bad faith to embarrass the electoral commission.

The subpoena followed an application by Sowore’s lead defence counsel, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika (SAN), seeking to compel INEC to produce the historical electoral records.

The documents are expected to provide evidence relating to Tinubu’s electoral submissions during his 1999 governorship candidacy in Lagos State and his 2023 presidential contest.

The criminal case, marked FHC/CR/484/2025, is between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Sowore.

The latest application has introduced another legal dispute into the trial, with the court expected to determine whether the subpoena should be enforced or set aside.