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INEC: Why we excluded Adebutu from Ogun 2027 governorship candidates’ list
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has told the Federal High Court in Abuja that it excluded the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, from the list of candidates for the February 6, 2027 election because his name was missing from the party’s membership register submitted to the commission.
INEC said its search of the register identified the name of the PDP deputy governorship candidate, Kolapo Lateefat Oyeyemi, but found no record matching Adebutu’s name, despite checks for possible variations.
The commission disclosed this in a counter-affidavit filed in response to a suit instituted by the PDP and Adebutu, seeking an order compelling it to recognise him as the party’s governorship candidate.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2573/2026, followed the omission of Adebutu’s name from the final list of 13 candidates cleared to contest the Ogun governorship election.
In the counter-affidavit deposed to by Mustapha Mohammed, a Chief Program Analyst in INEC’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Department, the commission said it conducted a search of the PDP membership register before publishing the final list.
Mohammed stated that the search produced Oyeyemi’s name but no record of Adebutu, even after the ICT department checked for possible variations of his name.
“The ICT department found the name of the first plaintiff’s candidate fielded as Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Kolapo Lateefat Oyeyemi, in the register but could not find the name of the second plaintiff,” he said.
The INEC official further told the court that the two flash drives submitted by the PDP alongside its hard-copy membership register did not contain Adebutu’s name or personal details.
He also alleged that the flash drive attached to the PDP’s affidavit in support of the suit contained records different from those originally submitted to the commission.
According to Mohammed, the first flash drive submitted on April 22, 2026, contained files named Ogun 01-038, while the second contained files named Ogun 01-04.
He said the files contained membership serial numbers ranging from 1 to 18,973 and 1 to 19,308, respectively.
Mohammed also challenged Adebutu’s claim to membership serial number 1536, stating that the record submitted to INEC identified the member as Lugboso Sunday Seun.
The commission maintained that it conducted due diligence before publishing the final list of candidates for the election.
The PDP and Adebutu had approached the court after his name was left off the list, asking the court to compel INEC to recognise his candidacy.
After parties adopted their final written addresses, Justice Peter Lifu fixed Friday for judgment.
Meanwhile, Labour Party chieftain Arabambi Abayomi has accused Adebutu of allegedly making false claims in the affidavit filed in support of his suit against INEC.
Abayomi, in a statement made available to journalists, alleged that Adebutu falsely claimed ownership of membership serial number 1536, which INEC said belonged to Lugboso Sunday Seun.
He described the alleged claim as perjury and called on the Attorney-General of the Federation to investigate the matter.
The Labour Party chieftain also urged the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to investigate what he characterised as an alleged attempt to influence the outcome of the case.