Ogun 2027: Court Orders INEC To Reinstate Adebutu As PDP Governorship Candidate Within 24 Hours

The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to reinstate Oladipupo Adebutu as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate for Ogun State in the 2027 election within 24 hours.

Justice Peter Lifu gave the directive on Friday, November 13, 2026, ruling that INEC lacked the authority to unilaterally remove a candidate duly nominated by a political party without an order from a court of competent jurisdiction.

The judge consequently declared the commission’s exclusion of Adebutu from its final list of governorship candidates unlawful, unconstitutional, null and void.

The court also directed INEC to upload and publish Adebutu’s name on its official list of candidates within 24 hours.

The judgment followed a suit instituted by the PDP and Adebutu against INEC after the commission omitted his name from the final list of candidates for the February 6, 2027 Ogun governorship election, published on October 10.

The plaintiffs had approached the court on October 22, seeking an order compelling the electoral commission to recognise Adebutu as the party’s candidate.

During the proceedings, the PDP maintained that Adebutu was a registered member of the party and that his name was included in the membership records submitted to INEC.

The party’s National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature, testified that Adebutu’s name appeared on the flash drive containing the party’s candidates’ information submitted to the commission.

However, INEC opposed the suit, arguing that its search of the PDP membership register submitted to it did not produce Adebutu’s name.

A Chief Programme Analyst in the commission’s Information and Communication Technology Department, Mustapha Mohammed, told the court that the search identified the party’s deputy governorship candidate, Kolapo Lateefat Oyeyemi, but not Adebutu.

INEC also disputed the membership serial number 1536, which Adebutu claimed belonged to him, maintaining that the number was assigned to another party member, Lugboso Sunday Seun.

The commission further alleged that the flash drive attached to the plaintiffs’ court processes contained records different from those originally submitted to it.

In resolving the dispute, Justice Lifu held that the evidence before the court established Adebutu’s membership of the PDP.

The judge also faulted INEC’s handling of the matter, questioning its authority to determine the membership of a political party and remove a candidate nominated by that party without obtaining a court order.

He maintained that although INEC had the responsibility to receive and publish candidates’ names, that administrative responsibility did not give it the power to independently disqualify a candidate.

The judge also held that Adebutu’s right to fair hearing had been breached by the commission’s action.

The judgment further addressed the relationship between the Electoral Act 2026 and the Supreme Court’s position on the submission of political parties’ membership registers, clarifying that the decision did not challenge the apex court’s authority or ruling.

INEC had previously maintained that it conducted due diligence before publishing its final list and that Adebutu’s name was absent from the membership register submitted by the PDP.

The latest ruling now places an obligation on the commission to restore Adebutu’s name to its list of candidates within the stipulated 24-hour period.

The Ogun governorship election is scheduled for February 6, 2027.