The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to restore Ladi Adebutu, the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate in Ogun State, to its list of candidates for the 2027 governorship election within 24 hours. Justice Peter Lifu delivered the judgment on Friday, holding that INEC acted beyond its statutory powers by removing a candidate duly nominated by a political party. He declared the exclusion unlawful, unconstitutional, null and void.
The judge said INEC breached Adebutu's right to fair hearing by excluding his name without giving him an opportunity to be heard. He ruled that the power to disqualify a candidate after a party has forwarded his name rests with the Federal High Court or State High Court, and that the commission should have approached a competent court if it believed Adebutu was not qualified. Lifu also warned that allowing INEC such powers would be a dangerous show of power, since it could disqualify candidates only days before an election.S1S2
Lifu found the PDP's governorship primary held on May 24, 2026 to be valid, noting that INEC monitored the exercise and raised no objection at the time. He faulted the commission for waiting more than four months before publishing the final list on October 10 without informing the plaintiffs of any intention to exclude their candidate. He also rejected INEC's evidence that Adebutu's name was missing from the PDP membership register, pointing to the membership register tendered in court, which listed Adebutu under serial number 1536, and to a witness, Mustapha Mohammed, who admitted under cross-examination that he was not the official who received the flash drive containing the register.S1S2
The court consequently ordered INEC to rectify the candidates' list published on October 10, 2026, to reflect Adebutu's name. The dispute followed the exclusion of Adebutu and his running mate from the final list for the February 6, 2027 Ogun State governorship election, a case brought by Adebutu and the PDP to challenge that removal.S1S2
