Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has been served with a contempt charge by the Federal High Court in Abuja, following his alleged refusal to comply with a mandamus order regarding the leadership of the National Rescue Mission (NRM) party.
The court bailiff, Ayuba Sule, served the Form 48—an official notice warning of the consequences of disobeying a court order—on Thursday at the INEC headquarters in Abuja. The service followed a June 17 ruling by Justice Obiora Egwuatu, which granted leave for substituted service after previous attempts to serve Yakubu directly had failed.
According to the NRM’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Anselem Nebeife, INEC staff initially resisted accepting the documents. Sule, who visited the INEC chairman’s office with proper identification, was redirected to the commission’s legal department where officials also declined to accept the documents. The bailiff eventually left the court order and Form 48 in front of the legal department and exited the premises.
The NRM initiated the contempt proceedings after accusing INEC and its chairman of wilfully ignoring a March 5 mandamus order, which directed the electoral body to recognise the outcome of an emergency convention held by the party on January 17. The convention elected Chief Edozie Njoku as the new national chairman and sought to address internal leadership imbalances.
In an affidavit deposed to by Mr. Adebayo Wasiu, the party emphasized that INEC was fully aware of the court’s order but had refused to act, thereby undermining the authority of the judiciary.
“To prevent this honourable court from being rendered impotent and to uphold the cause of justice, the registrar issued Form 48 to the chairman of the respondent, directing him to show cause why he should not be committed to prison for failing to comply with the court’s judgment,” the affidavit stated.
The application for substituted service became necessary due to the procedural challenges in personally serving Professor Yakubu, with the affidavit noting that INEC only accepts legal documents through a designated registry at its gate.
The case is slated for mention on July 15.
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