2027: Court Gives INEC 24 Hours to Restore Adebutu as Ogun PDP Governorship Candidate
The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to reinstate Ladi Adebutu as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate for the 2027 Ogun State election.
In a judgment delivered on Friday, Justice Peter Lifu directed INEC to restore Adebutu’s name to the official list of candidates within 24 hours, declaring his earlier exclusion unlawful, unconstitutional and without legal effect.
The court ruled that INEC lacked the constitutional and statutory authority to independently disqualify a candidate validly nominated by a political party. It also held that the commission violated Adebutu’s right to fair hearing by removing his name without giving him an opportunity to defend himself.
Justice Lifu maintained that once a political party has submitted its nominated candidate to INEC, only a competent court of law has the authority to determine whether that candidate should be disqualified.
The judgment followed a suit filed by Adebutu and the PDP after INEC omitted his name from the final list of candidates published on October 10, 2026.
During the proceedings, Adebutu told the court that he participated in the PDP governorship primary election conducted on May 24, 2026, and emerged as the party’s candidate. He also maintained that his name was published by the party on August 29 without any objection.
The plaintiffs further informed the court that the PDP National Secretary had written to INEC on October 14, requesting the restoration of Adebutu’s name, but the commission failed to act on the request.
The PDP’s National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature, testified that Adebutu was a duly registered party member whose name appeared in the membership register submitted to INEC on April 22, 2026.
According to Bature, the register contained more than 30,000 members, and Adebutu was the first person to register, on February 24, 2026. He added that his membership had never been disputed.
However, INEC’s witness, Mustapha Mohammed, a programme analyst with the commission, told the court that a search conducted before the publication of the final candidates’ list did not reveal Adebutu’s name in the party’s membership register.
Under cross-examination, Mohammed admitted that he was not the official who received the flash drive containing the membership register from the PDP and could not independently confirm its exact contents.
In his ruling, Justice Lifu held that INEC failed to provide sufficient evidence to establish that Adebutu was absent from the membership register submitted by the PDP.
The judge also criticised the commission for failing to challenge the conduct of the May 24 primary election within the legally prescribed period.
Expressing concern over the commission’s actions, Justice Lifu warned that allowing INEC to exercise powers beyond those provided by law could create dangerous precedents, including the possibility of disqualifying candidates shortly before an election.
He stressed that the authority to nominate candidates rests exclusively with political parties, while disputes concerning a candidate’s eligibility must be determined by a competent court.
Consequently, the court ordered INEC to correct the list published on October 10, 2026, and include Adebutu’s name as the PDP governorship candidate for the 2027 Ogun State election.
The judge further declared that INEC could not validly announce the result of the 2027 Ogun governorship election without the participation of the plaintiffs, warning that any such action would be unconstitutional and without legal effect.
