Court Fixes Friday To Rule On PDP, Adebutu’s Suit Against INEC Over Ogun 2027 Governorship Election
The Federal High Court in Abuja has scheduled Friday to deliver judgment in a suit instituted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Oladipupo Adebutu, against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over his exclusion from the list of candidates for the 2027 Ogun State governorship election.
Justice Peter Lifu fixed the date after counsel to the parties presented their arguments, called witnesses and adopted their respective legal processes in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2573/2026.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the PDP and Adebutu approached the court on October 22 following INEC’s failure to include Adebutu’s name in the final list of candidates released for the Ogun governorship race.
INEC was listed as the sole defendant in the suit filed by the plaintiffs through their counsel, Ahmed Raji, SAN.
The plaintiffs presented six issues for determination and requested 11 reliefs from the court.
Among their demands was an order nullifying INEC’s decision to exclude or refuse to publish Adebutu’s name in the final list of candidates released on October 10. They argued that the commission’s action violated their right to fair hearing and contravened Sections 29 and 32 of the Electoral Act, 2026.
They also urged the court to compel INEC to publish Adebutu’s name as the PDP governorship candidate for Ogun State within 24 hours of the court’s ruling ahead of the 2027 general elections.
However, in its counter-affidavit, INEC, through Mustapha Mohammed, a Chief Programme Analyst in its Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Department, maintained that Adebutu’s name was missing from the register of party members previously submitted by the PDP.
The electoral commission further stated that the only name it identified in the register was that of the party’s deputy governorship candidate in the state, Kolapo Lateefat Oyeyemi.
At the previous court sitting on November 5, both parties presented witnesses to support their respective positions.
Testifying for the plaintiffs, PDP National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature, told the court that Adebutu’s name was included in the flash drive containing the party’s list of candidates submitted to INEC.
Bature, while responding to questions from Raji, also disputed the colour of the flash drive presented by INEC, insisting that the device submitted by the PDP was silver.
He explained that the party submitted only an electronic copy of its candidates’ list through the flash drive, adding that the submission was made in accordance with the Electoral Act and Paragraph 4(3) of Part 1 of INEC’s Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties, 2026.
However, Mohammed, who testified for INEC, maintained that Adebutu’s name was not contained in the list submitted by the PDP.
He also informed the court that the party submitted both printed and electronic copies of its candidates’ list to the commission.
After hearing arguments and examining the evidence presented by both sides, Justice Lifu fixed Friday, November 13, for judgment.
(NAN)
