The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately reinstate Oladipupo Adebutu as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Justice Peter Lifu gave the order on Friday while delivering judgment in suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/2573/2026, holding that INEC lacked the statutory authority to unilaterally remove or exclude a candidate validly sponsored by a political party without a subsisting court order.
Adebutu and the PDP had approached the court following the omission of his name from INEC’s final list of cleared governorship candidates published in October 2026.
In its defence, INEC, through a counter-affidavit deposed to by Mustapha Mohammed, a Chief Programme Analyst in its Information and Communication Technology Department, claimed that a search of the PDP’s submitted membership register did not produce any record matching Adebutu’s name.
The commission, however, acknowledged finding the name of the party’s deputy governorship candidate, Kolapo Lateefat Oyeyemi, in its records.
The PDP, represented by its National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature, challenged INEC’s position, insisting that Adebutu’s particulars and nomination documents had been duly uploaded and submitted through a silver flash drive in compliance with the Electoral Act, 2026, and the commission’s guidelines.
After considering the arguments and evidence presented by the parties, Justice Lifu resolved the substantive issues in favour of the plaintiffs and directed INEC to restore Adebutu’s name to the ballot for the Ogun State governorship election.
The judgment is expected to have significant implications for the political atmosphere in Ogun State, where the PDP and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) have been engaged in exchanges over the circumstances surrounding Adebutu’s exclusion from the candidates’ list.
While the APC had attributed the development to internal disagreements within the opposition party, Adebutu maintained that the administrative dispute would not derail his governorship ambition.
During his political engagements and tours across the state’s local government areas, the former governorship candidate had continued to express confidence in his 2027 aspiration despite the controversy.
INEC is now expected to comply with the court’s directive by restoring Adebutu’s name to the list of PDP governorship candidates, subject to any further legal developments.
