A FEDERAL High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to reinstate Ladi Adebutu as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate for Ogun State in next year’s general elections within 24 hours.
The court held that INEC lacked the authority to independently disqualify a candidate validly nominated by a political party.In his judgment on Friday, November 13,
Justice Peter Lifu directed INEC to restore Adebutu’s name to its official list of governorship candidates and amend the list published on October 10, to reflect his candidacy.
The Judge held that the power to disqualify a candidate whose name has already been submitted to INEC rests with a competent court, such as a Federal High Court or a State High Court, and not the electoral umpire, acting unilaterally.
Justice Lifu further held that INEC violated Adebutu’s constitutional right to fair hearing by removing his name from the candidates’ list without giving him an opportunity to defend himself, an action he described as unlawful, unconstitutional and without legal effect.
He stated, that if INEC had concerns about Adebutu’s eligibility to contest the election, it should have approached a competent court for a determination, rather than take the decision on its own.
In addition, the court held that INEC was legally obligated under the Electoral Act to publish Adebutu’s name as the PDP candidate, insisting it could not validly declare the outcome of the see and of no effect.
Before delivering the judgement on the substantive suit, the court had dismissed INEC’s preliminary objection challenging the competence of the case.
The Judge explained that he had examined the originating summons and confirmed that it contained the name and signature of the senior counsel who filed the suit, as well as the names of other lawyers in the firm.
He consequently ruled that the legal process was properly filed and dismissed INEC’s objection.In reviewing the case,
Justice Lifu said Adebutu had previously contested for the governorship in 2019 and emerged as PDP candidate in the 2023 election.
The court also established that Adebutu participated in the PDP governorship primary for the forthcoming election, after which the party published his name on August 29, without any challenge to his nomination.
However, the controversy began when INEC released its official candidates’ list in October 2026, with Adebutu’s name conspicuously missing, despite the fact that he had not withdrawn from the race.
