Judge stays away, Sowore trial stalls and INEC says it has no record of Tinubu’s forms

Photo: Omoyele Sowore and INEC Chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan · Sources: OtownGist (Sept 2019); School Info Spot (Oct 2025 file photos)

The 9 a.m. hearing never happened — the judge was indisposed, the INEC chairman and Joe Igbokwe were absent, and the case is adjourned to 17 November.

INEC has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to set aside the subpoena directing its chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, to produce President Bola Tinubu’s election records — but the 9:00 a.m. hearing on Wednesday 11 Nov never happened: the presiding judge, Justice Mohammed Garba Umar, was indisposed and the court did not sit.

The subpoena — Subpoena Duces Tecum, in charge FHC/CR/484/2025, Federal Republic of Nigeria v. Omoyele Sowore — was issued on 26 October by Justice Mohammed Garba Umar. It directs Amupitan to produce Tinubu’s Form CF001 from the 1999 Lagos governorship election, including an affidavit on lost certificates, and his Form CF001 from the 2023 presidential election, and to testify as a defence witness. The case has been adjourned to Tuesday 17 Nov 2026.

INEC’s application to set it aside was received at the court registry at 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday. Sowore disclosed the move in a Facebook post on Tuesday, accusing the commission of trying to avoid producing the records. APC chieftain Joe Igbokwe, also subpoenaed as a defence witness, was absent too.

INEC argues the subpoena was invalid, improperly served and sought documents that were not in its custody — the commission says there is no form known as INEC Form CF001 for the 1999 Lagos governorship election or the 2023 presidential election. Amupitan, through his lawyers led by Dr Alex A. Izinyon, SAN, also accuses Sowore of seeking the documents in bad faith to embarrass the commission. The court has not yet ruled on INEC’s application. In its application, INEC argues the electoral forms Sowore seeks are “unknown to him in the form described and not in his custody” — the commission says it has no record of the CF001s as described. That is INEC’s argument in the application, not a finding by the court.

Sowore is being prosecuted by the DSS under the Cybercrimes Act over social media posts in which he called Tinubu a criminal; he has pleaded not guilty.

The court documents show the subpoena was served on INEC’s Litigation and Prosecution Department at its Abuja headquarters on 6 November at about 12:30 p.m. — INEC argues it was not personally served on Amupitan as required by law. At a press conference on Monday, Amupitan reportedly said the commission had not received the court order — while a hearing notice was reported served on him the same day. NewsFlux is flagging the contradiction, not settling it. The subpoena proves nothing by itself: it does not establish that anything in the documents is false, or that any electoral wrongdoing occurred.

Update, 11 Nov 2026 (evening): this article was updated after the 9 a.m. hearing did not hold — Justice Mohammed Garba Umar was indisposed and the court did not sit. INEC chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan and APC chieftain Joe Igbokwe were both absent. The case is adjourned to Tuesday 17 Nov 2026. The court has NOT ruled on INEC’s application to set aside the subpoena.

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