The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to reinstate the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, on its list of candidates for the 2027 governorship election within 24 hours.
Justice Peter Lifu, in a judgment delivered on Friday, held that INEC lacked the constitutional and statutory powers to unilaterally disqualify a candidate validly nominated by a political party.
The judge also held that the commission breached Adebutu’s right to fair hearing by excluding his name from the candidates’ list without giving him an opportunity to be heard.
Justice Lifu declared the removal of Adebutu’s name unlawful, unconstitutional and of no effect.
He said the authority to disqualify a candidate after his name had been forwarded by a political party “resides with the Federal High Court or State High Court.”
The judgment followed a suit instituted by the PDP and Adebutu after INEC omitted his name from the final list of candidates published on October 10, 2026.
Before determining the substantive suit, the judge dismissed INEC’s preliminary objection challenging the competence of the action.
Justice Lifu held that the originating summons was properly signed by a senior counsel and contained the names of other lawyers in his firm, describing the process as competent.
resolving the substantive issues, the judge considered whether INEC breached Adebutu’s right to fair hearing, whether the commission possessed the power to unilaterally disqualify him and whether it could remove his name from the list of candidates.
Adebutu had told the court that he contested the 2019 Ogun State governorship election and was the PDP’s candidate in 2023.
He said he participated in the party’s primary election for the 2027 governorship poll and was nominated on May 24, 2026, adding that the party published his name on August 29 without any objection.
However, when INEC published its list of candidates in October, Adebutu discovered that his name had been excluded.
The plaintiffs said the PDP and its National Secretary subsequently wrote to INEC on October 14, asking the commission to reverse the decision, but their request was ignored.
The PDP’s National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature, who testified as the first prosecution witness, told the court that Adebutu was a registered member of the party and that his name was included in the membership register submitted to INEC.
Bature said the party submitted its membership register, containing more than 30,000 names, to the commission on April 22, 2026, through a flash drive.
He maintained that Adebutu was the first person to register as a member of the party on February 24, 2026, and that his membership had never been in dispute.
However, INEC’s witness, Mustapha Mohammed, a programme analyst with the commission, told the court that a search conducted before the publication of the final candidates’ list did not reveal Adebutu’s name in the party’s membership register.
He said the name of Adebutu’s deputy governorship candidate was found in the register.
But under cross-examination, Mohammed admitted that he was not the official who received the flash drive from the PDP and could not confirm the exact contents of the device submitted by the party.
Relying on the evidence before the court, Justice Lifu held that INEC failed to establish that Adebutu was not included in the membership register submitted by the PDP.
The judge also faulted the commission for failing to challenge the conduct of the May 24 primary election within the legally prescribed period.
He said aid, “As far as I know, no person filed any suit to challenge Adebutu 14 days after the conduct of the poll. It was baffling that INEC waited until August.”
Justice Lifu warned against allowing the commission to exercise powers not conferred on it by law, saying, “If this is not resolved, there will be a day that INEC will disqualify a candidate a day to election. This must not be allowed. This would be an absurdity.”
On the commission’s powers, the judge stated, “INEC does not have the power to remove names or disqualify any candidate on its own. The power to disqualify a candidate after the name has been forwarded resides with the FHC or State high Court.”
He added, “The power to nominate a candidate for an election exclusively belongs to a political party, and the exercise of that power is within a party.”
The judge further held that the commission should have approached a competent court if it believed Adebutu was not qualified to contest the election.
Justice Lifu consequently ruled that INEC acted beyond its statutory powers and ordered it to rectify the list published on October 10, 2026, to reflect Adebutu’s name.
The court also declared that INEC could not validly announce the result of the 2027 Ogun governorship election without the participation of the plaintiffs, warning that “the election shall be of no effect and unconstitutional.”