Court orders INEC to publish Adebutu as Ogun PDP governorship candidate within 24 hours

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

Justice Peter Lifu gave the order on Friday while delivering judgment in a suit filed by Adebutu and the PDP against the electoral commission.

The judge held that INEC lacked the authority to unilaterally remove the name of a candidate validly nominated by a political party, describing the commission’s action as unconstitutional, unlawful and of no effect.

Lifu further ruled that only the Federal High Court or the relevant state High Court could declare a candidate invalid, stressing that INEC had no such power.

He also held that the commission violated Adebutu’s right to fair hearing by removing his name from the list of contestants.

The judge dismissed INEC’s preliminary objection and declared the suit competent.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the PDP and Adebutu instituted the action on October 22 after the commission omitted his name from the final list of candidates for the Ogun governorship election published on October 10.

The plaintiffs had sued INEC as the sole defendant through their counsel, Ahmed Raji, SAN.

They asked the court to determine six questions and grant 11 reliefs, including an order setting aside INEC’s decision to omit, remove or refuse to publish Adebutu’s name.

They argued that the commission’s action violated his right to fair hearing and breached Sections 29 and 32 of the Electoral Act, 2026.

Among their requests was an order compelling INEC to include and publish Adebutu’s name as the PDP governorship candidate for Ogun State within 24 hours of the court’s judgment.

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