The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered Joash Amupitan, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to produce President Bola Tinubu’s nomination documents for the 1999 Lagos governorship and 2023 presidential elections in the criminal trial of Omoyele Sowore.

The court also directed Amupitan to testify in the trial of Sowore, publisher of Sahara Reporters, who is being prosecuted by the Department of State Services (DSS) over his social media posts concerning Tinubu.

The subpoena, issued in charge number FHC/CR/484/2025, specifically requests Tinubu’s INEC Form CF001, including the affidavit relating to lost certificates, which he submitted as a candidate in the 1999 Lagos governorship election.

It also seeks the president’s Form CF001 submitted to INEC for the 2023 presidential election.

The document, titled “Subpoena Duces Tecum”, was addressed to Amupitan and signed by the presiding judge, Mohammed Umar.

The development followed the court’s decision on Monday to grant the defence’s request to subpoena the INEC chairman and Joe Igbokwe, a former publicity secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos, to testify as defence witnesses.

During Monday’s proceedings, Ruben Adakole, counsel to Sowore, informed the court that the defence intended to call the two individuals as witnesses.

The judge granted the application and directed that subpoenas be issued to them.

However, in a separate ruling, the court dismissed Sowore’s application seeking to compel Akinlolu Kehinde, lead counsel to the DSS, to testify as a defence witness.

The judge also set aside the subpoena earlier issued to Kehinde, ruling that legal practitioners owe their clients a duty of confidentiality and cannot ordinarily be compelled to disclose communications relating to legal representation.

He explained that a lawyer could only be compelled to testify under limited circumstances, particularly where the evidence sought concerns an uncontested matter or would not prejudice the client’s interests.

The court also agreed with the prosecution that the application against Kehinde was intended to delay the trial and had been brought in bad faith.

The case was adjourned until November 11 for the appearance of the subpoenaed defence witnesses.

Sowore is being prosecuted by the DSS over social media posts in which he allegedly described President Bola Tinubu as a “criminal”.