Court Orders Substituted Service On INEC Chairman Over Contempt Charge
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has granted an order for substituted service of Form 48, a notice of contempt proceedings, on the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu.
The ruling, delivered on Tuesday by Justice Obiora Egwuatu, followed an ex parte motion filed by the National Rescue Mission (NRM), alleging that INEC and its Chairman disobeyed a valid court order issued earlier this year.
The NRM, through its legal team led by Mr. Oladimeji Ekengba, told the court that INEC had failed to comply with a judgment delivered on March 5, 2025, which directed the commission to recognise the outcome of the party’s emergency national convention held on January 17.
The convention had produced a new leadership for the party, led by Chief Edozie Njoku, to correct what the party described as “lopsidedness” in its National Executive Committee.
“Despite being present in court when the judgment was delivered and being duly served with the Enrolled Order, INEC has refused to comply,” Ekengba said.
The NRM, in a supporting affidavit deposed to by Mr. Adebayo Wasiu, said efforts to personally serve Prof. Mahmood Yakubu had proved futile due to strict security protocols at the INEC headquarters.
“The INEC Chairman is shielded by layers of protocol, and the Commission only accepts court processes at a designated registry at its gate,” the affidavit read.
The party urged the court to approve substituted service by allowing the contempt charge to be handed over to any INEC staff at the commission’s headquarters located at Plot 430, Zambezi Crescent, Maitama, Abuja.
Justice Egwuatu, after hearing the application, granted the request and ordered that the Form 48 be served through substituted means.
“The substituted service is to be effected by handing the process to any INEC official at its headquarters,” the judge ruled.
He, however, directed the Applicant to file an affidavit of service specifying the name of the official who received the process.
The court adjourned the case to July 15, 2025, for mention.
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