The Peoples Democratic Party in Ogun State has announced plans to approach the court over the continued exclusion of its governorship candidate, Oladipupo Adebutu, from the Independent National Electoral Commission’s final list of candidates for the 2027 governorship election.
The party said it would seek judicial intervention after Adebutu’s name remained absent from INEC’s updated list despite the commission reviewing complaints and petitions arising from its earlier publication.
Ogun PDP Publicity Secretary, Kayode Adebayo, disclosed that the party was preparing to commence legal proceedings this week, although he did not give the exact date or details of the action.
“I don’t have the details, and I don’t want to mislead the public. But I know definitely that we are going to court this week,” Adebayo said.
“The hearing will start, and the case will commence this week. But I don’t have the actual date, so I don’t want to be misquoted.”
INEC had on October 10 published the final list of candidates for the 2027 governorship elections, but Adebutu and his running mate were missing from the Ogun State list.
Thirteen other political parties had their governorship candidates listed for the state, while the PDP had no candidate reflected on the document.
Adebutu was among three governorship candidates initially omitted from INEC’s published lists, alongside PDP candidate in Gombe State, Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, and the Nigeria Democratic Congress candidate in Kano State, Abdulsalam Gwarzo.
INEC subsequently reviewed petitions submitted by political parties over the governorship lists, with the commission stating that it received 69 petitions from 12 political parties across 26 states. Forty-one were successful, while 28 were rejected.
Following the review, Pantami’s name was included in the updated Gombe State list, but Adebutu remained absent from the Ogun list published by INEC on October 31.
The development means the PDP currently has no governorship candidate listed by INEC for Ogun State ahead of the 2027 election.
The controversy has also generated legal debate over the circumstances surrounding Adebutu’s omission, including questions over compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act relating to party membership registers and eligibility to participate in party primaries.
Legal analysts have, however, noted that the precise legal effect of the alleged membership-register issues and INEC’s power to exclude an individual candidate may ultimately require judicial determination.
The Ogun PDP has maintained that Adebutu complied with the relevant requirements and is now turning to the courts to challenge INEC’s decision.
Adebayo urged party members and supporters to remain calm, expressing confidence that the dispute would be resolved through the judicial process and that Adebutu would ultimately appear on the ballot.
“If democracy is at play, we believe that the court is the last hope of the people. We believe in the court process, and we hope that, at the end of the day, the case will be heard and fairly judged,” he said.
Post Title: “We Are Going To Court This Week” — Ogun PDP Challenges INEC’s Exclusion Of Adebutu From 2027 Governorship List By Naijaonpoint.