Court tells INEC to list Adebutu as Ogun PDP governorship candidate in 24 hours

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

Judge Peter Lifu gave the order on Friday after a suit was filed by Mr Adebutu and the PDP. They challenged INEC’s decision to leave Mr Adebutu’s name off the final list of candidates for the upcoming governorship election on 6 February 2027.

The judge said INEC “acted beyond its statutory powers” by taking Mr Adebutu’s name out of the list. He added that “the commission had no authority to disqualify a candidate duly nominated by a political party.”

He declared the exclusion “unlawful, unconstitutional, null and void.” The judge also pointed out that even if the party broke the Electoral Act, INEC could not “unilaterally remove the name of a duly nominated candidate without an order from a court of competent jurisdiction.”

In addressing the issues, Mr Lifu stated that the power to nominate candidates for “elections rested solely with political parties.” He ruled that “Neither INEC nor any other authority could take over that responsibility.”

He explained that while INEC should publish candidates’ names, this was just an administrative duty. This duty does not give the commission the power to nominate or disqualify candidates.

The judge noted that the PDP held its governorship primary on 24 May. INEC monitored this event and did not raise any objections at that time.

The judge criticized INEC for taking over four months to “belatedly publish the final list on 10 October.” He said they did not inform the plaintiffs about any intention to exclude their candidate.

He questioned why INEC brought up the issue after the primary had already been conducted and monitored. He said INEC could have raised any concerns at that time.

Mr Lifu warned that letting INEC have such powers would be a “dangerous show of power.” He said this could allow the commission to disqualify candidates just days before an election, and stated that INEC did not have absolute powers.

The judge confirmed that the membership register presented in court showed Mr Adebutu’s name at serial number 1536. He said the evidence proved that Mr Adebutu was a member of the PDP. The political party, not INEC, has the authority to decide its membership.

The judge questioned why INEC felt it was their job to decide who belongs to a political party. He held that INEC exceeded its powers by leaving Mr Adebutu’s name off the list.

The dispute arose after Mr Adebutu and his running mate were excluded from the final list of candidates that INEC published for the 6 February 2027 Ogun State governorship election.

On 10 October, INEC published a final list that included 13 governorship candidates but left the PDP out of the race. INEC said this was because the PDP failed to meet the membership register requirements under the Electoral Act 2026.

Section 77(5), (7) of the Act requires political parties to submit their membership registers to INEC within a certain timeframe. It also allows the commission to review the registers.

In September, the Supreme Court confirmed the legality of these provisions in a case involving the Zenith Labour Party and INEC. The ruling reaffirmed the need for political parties to submit their membership registers before conducting valid primaries.

After being excluded, the PDP and Mr Adebutu went to the Federal High Court in Abuja in October. They asked the court to force INEC to recognize him as the party’s governorship candidate.

The plaintiffs argued that INEC’s decision violated their right to a fair hearing and broke the rules of the Electoral Act. They requested the court to overturn the decision and order INEC to publish Mr Adebutu’s name as the party’s governorship candidate within 24 hours.

INEC opposed the case. They insisted that Mr Adebutu’s name was missing from the PDP membership register submitted to them. They urged the court to dismiss the case as incompetent.

In his judgement on Friday, Mr Lifu looked at the disagreement over the flash drive that contained the PDP’s candidates’ list submitted to INEC.

Mustapha Mohammed, a chief program analyst in INEC’s Information and Communication Technology Department, told the court that a search of the register found the name of the party’s deputy governorship candidate, Kolapo Lateefat Oyeyemi, but not Mr Adebutu’s.

Mr Mohammed also disputed Mr Adebutu’s claim to membership serial number 1536, saying it belonged to another party member, Lugboso Sunday Seun. He also claimed that the flash drive attached to the PDP’s court documents had records that were different from those originally submitted to INEC.

The PDP challenged INEC’s version of the documents. Umar Bature, the party’s National Organising Secretary, testified that the PDP submitted its candidates’ list electronically via a flash drive, following INEC’s guidelines.

Mr Bature insisted that the flash drive included the names of all the party’s candidates, including Mr Adebutu. He also said the flash drive presented by INEC was not the one submitted by the party, which was silver in color.

The judge noted that during cross-examination, INEC’s witness, Mr Mohammed, admitted he was not the one who received the flash drive. This made the case against the plaintiffs weaker.

He also looked at the evidence that showed the plaintiffs submitted the candidates’ list electronically following INEC’s rules. He ruled that the PDP followed the regulations and noted that the commission’s acknowledgement letter did not prove that the party had to submit a hard copy.

The court also considered that the plaintiffs wrote to INEC after noticing Mr Adebutu’s name was missing, but the commission still did not upload his name.

On INEC’s preliminary objection, the judge referred to Order 7 of the Federal High Court Pre-Election Matters Rules 2026. This rule states that pre-election matters must begin with an originating summons.

He held that the suit was properly filed and signed. The judge resolved the relevant issues in favor of the plaintiffs, declaring their case “meritorious.”

As a result, Mr Lifu ordered INEC to upload and publish Mr Adebutu’s name as the PDP’s governorship candidate for the 2027 Ogun State election within 24 hours of the order. He made “no order as to costs.”

Speaking about the Supreme Court’s ruling on the membership register requirements under the Electoral Act, Mr Lifu clarified that his judgement did not question the Supreme Court’s authority or ruling.

He stated that INEC could not use the Supreme Court’s decision to take actions beyond what the law allows.