Nigeria’s election commission has asked a court to set aside an order, known as a subpoena, that would force its chairman to hand over President Bola Tinubu’s candidate papers from 1999 and 2023. The motion was filed on Tuesday 10 November 2026, a day before the Federal High Court in Abuja, which hears federal cases, was due to hear the matter.
The commission, known as INEC, runs Nigeria’s elections and is led by chairman Joash Amupitan. The order was issued in the trial of Omoyele Sowore, an activist and former presidential candidate whom the State Security Service (also called the Department of State Services), Nigeria’s domestic intelligence agency, is prosecuting over social media posts calling Tinubu a criminal.
What the Court Ordered
The Federal High Court in Abuja issued a subpoena dated Monday 26 October 2026, a court order to produce documents and give evidence, naming Amupitan. It asks for two sets of papers Tinubu submitted to INEC: his candidate form for the 1999 Lagos State governorship election, with an affidavit, a sworn statement, about lost certificates, and his nomination papers for the 2023 presidential election.
Justice Mohammed Umar is hearing the case. Sowore’s defence team sought the records.
What INEC Argues
INEC, through its lawyer Alex Izinyon, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (the country’s top lawyer rank), argues that the subpoena is void and that Amupitan was never personally served. It also says the forms, called Form CF001 in the subpoena and CF01 by INEC, are wrongly described and do not exist in the form named.
Press reports of the motion say it calls the defence application irrelevant, speculative and meant to embarrass the commission. A supporting affidavit says the subpoena reached INEC’s litigation department at about 12:30 p.m. on Friday 6 November, not the chairman himself.
We have not seen INEC’s motion or affidavit ourselves, so these arguments are INEC’s account and not a court finding. Their wording comes from Nigerian court reports.
The city gate of Abuja, Nigeria’s capital. File photo, not linked to the story. (Photo: Rio Times library)Why It Matters
The dispute is about documents and procedure: whether INEC holds the papers and whether its chairman can be compelled to bring them. It is not a ruling on Tinubu’s eligibility.
Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country and votes for a president in 2027, so how courts handle candidate papers is closely watched. For a reader following Nigerian politics, the next signal is the court’s decision on INEC’s motion.
Our report on the INEC chairman and the 2027 vote gives the wider picture. We also explain the Atiku and Tinubu rivalry.
What Prediction Markets Say
Polymarket, a prediction market where users bet real money, lists the Nigerian presidential election winner market with about US$156,742 traded and, at 4:09 a.m. ET on 11 November 2026, priced Tinubu at 68.5%, Peter Obi, a 2023 presidential candidate, at 19.5%, and Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president, at 1.6%. Kalshi showed Tinubu at 70% at the same time.
Why we show this: prediction markets turn real-money bets into a live probability that moves within minutes of the news, which is why investors, campaigns and newsrooms in the United States now follow them closely. We show them next to polls and official results, never instead of them.
What Is Not Known
It is not known how the court ruled on INEC’s motion at the hearing set for Wednesday 11 November 2026. It is also not known whether the commission holds the forms Sowore’s team describes, since INEC disputes how they are described.
INEC’s arguments are its own account and have not been tested in court. The two sides also differ on whether the chairman was properly served.
More: Nigeria news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is a Subpoena in the Sowore Trial?
It is a court order telling INEC’s chairman to appear and bring named documents. It is dated Monday 26 October 2026.
Why Does INEC Want the Subpoena Set Aside?
INEC says the subpoena is void, that its chairman was not personally served and that the forms do not exist as named. These are INEC’s arguments as reported, not findings by the court.
Who Is Omoyele Sowore?
He is a Nigerian activist and former presidential candidate on trial at the Federal High Court in Abuja. Prosecutors say he posted social media messages calling President Tinubu a criminal.
Does This Affect Tinubu’s 2027 Candidacy?
This dispute is about whether INEC must produce documents for Sowore’s defence. It does not decide Tinubu’s eligibility.
Sources: Federal High Court of Nigeria, Abuja, subpoena dated 26 October 2026 and INEC’s motion of 10 November 2026, as described in Nigerian court reports; Independent National Electoral Commission; Polymarket, Nigerian Presidential Election Winner; Kalshi, Nigerian presidential election winner, 11 November 2026.
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