The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise Oladipupo Adebutu, popularly known as Ladi Adebutu, as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate for the 2027 election in Ogun State.
Justice Peter Lifu, who delivered the judgment on Friday, November 13, directed INEC to reinstate Adebutu’s name on the list of candidates for the forthcoming governorship election and publish it within 24 hours.
The court reportedly held that INEC had no authority to remove a candidate sponsored by a political party without a court order.
The judgment followed a suit instituted by the PDP and Adebutu against INEC over the commission’s decision to exclude his name from the final list of candidates for the Ogun State governorship election.
The case, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2573/2026, was filed on October 22 after INEC published its final list of candidates on October 10 without Adebutu’s name.
The plaintiffs, represented by their counsel, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Ahmed Raji, challenged the exclusion, arguing that the commission’s action violated Adebutu’s right to fair hearing and breached Sections 29 and 32 of the Electoral Act, 2026.
They asked the court to set aside INEC’s decision and compel the commission to publish Adebutu’s name as the PDP governorship candidate within 24 hours of the court’s order.
INEC had opposed the suit, maintaining that Adebutu’s name was not contained in the register of party members submitted to the commission by the PDP.
In its counter-affidavit, Mustapha Mohammed, a Chief Programme Analyst in INEC’s Information and Communication Technology Department, told the court that the commission searched the membership register submitted by the party but could only identify the name of its deputy governorship candidate, Kolapo Lateefat Oyeyemi.
However, during proceedings on November 5, the PDP National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature, testified that Adebutu’s name was included in the flash drive containing the party’s list of candidates submitted to INEC.
Bature also disputed the flash drive presented by the commission, insisting that the device submitted by the PDP was silver in colour. He maintained that the party submitted its candidates’ list electronically in accordance with the Electoral Act and INEC’s 2026 Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties.
INEC’s witness, Mohammed, maintained that Adebutu’s name was absent from the list submitted to the commission. He also told the court that the PDP submitted both hard and electronic copies of its candidates’ list.
The dispute therefore centred on the documents and electronic records submitted by the PDP to INEC, as well as the commission’s decision to exclude Adebutu from the published list.
With Friday’s judgment, the court has ordered the electoral commission to recognise Adebutu as the PDP’s duly nominated governorship candidate for Ogun State and publish his name within the stipulated 24-hour period.
The ruling marks a significant development in the PDP’s preparations for the 2027 Ogun governorship election, although the commission’s compliance with the order and any subsequent legal steps by the parties will remain relevant to the unfolding process.
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