The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN, has told the Federal High Court in Abuja that the electoral forms sought by human rights activist and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) Omoyele Sowore in his criminal trial over President Bola Tinubu are unknown to him in the form described and are not in his custody.

Amupitan made the assertion in an application seeking to set aside a court subpoena directing him to produce documents relating to Tinubu’s 1999 Lagos State governorship election and his 2023 presidential election.

In one of the grounds supporting the application, the INEC chairman argued that the forms specified in the subpoena were not known to him.

The application states: “There is no form known as INEC CF01 for the Lagos State Governorship Election 1999 and INEC Form CF01 for the 2023 Presidential Election as such form as described are unknown and are not in the custody of the Applicant.”

The subpoena, issued by the Federal High Court in Abuja on October 26, 2026, directs Amupitan to produce two sets of documents, listed as Tinubu’s INEC Form CF01, including an affidavit concerning lost certificates, submitted as a candidate in the 1999 Lagos governorship election, and his Form CF01 submitted for the 2023 presidential election.

The documents are being sought in Charge No. FHC/CR/484/2025, in which the Federal Republic of Nigeria is prosecuting Sowore.

The subpoena, issued by Justice Mohammed Garba Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja, directs Amupitan to appear in Courtroom 5 of the Abuja Judicial Division and produce the documents and testify on behalf of the defendant.

However, Amupitan, through his lawyers, Dr Alex A. Izinyon, SAN, and other members of his legal team, filed a Motion on Notice on November 10, 2026, asking the court to set aside the subpoena.

The motion argues that the subpoena is invalid and should not have been issued in its present form. It also contends that the documents requested are not in the INEC chairman’s custody.

The supporting affidavit was sworn by Mendie Akpan, a litigation secretary in the law firm representing Amupitan. She stated that the information contained in the affidavit was received from the INEC chairman during a telephone conference with his lawyers on November 10

The affidavit identifies the two documents requested by Sowore and reiterates the applicant’s position that the forms, as described, are unknown and not in his custody.

Sowore disclosed the subpoena in a Facebook post, sharing copies of the court order and hearing notice served on the INEC chairman.

The criminal proceedings arose from Sowore’s description of Tinubu as a criminal, over which the activist is facing prosecution.

The application to set aside the subpoena is yet to be determined by the court.