Blessing Omale, Abuja
The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed Friday, November 13, to deliver judgment in a suit filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Oladipupo Adebutu, seeking to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to include his name in the list of candidates for the 2027 Ogun State governorship election.
Justice Peter Lifu fixed the judgment date on Thursday after the parties concluded the presentation of their evidence and adopted their final written addresses in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2573/2026.
The dispute arose from INEC’s omission of Adebutu’s name from the final list of candidates for the Ogun governorship election, published on October 10, a development that prompted the PDP and its candidate to approach the court to challenge the commission’s decision.
The plaintiffs had instituted the suit on October 22, with INEC listed as the sole defendant, asking the court to determine the legality of the commission’s refusal to recognise Adebutu as the party’s governorship candidate.
Through their counsel, Ahmed Raji, SAN, the PDP and Adebutu raised six questions for determination and sought 11 reliefs, including an order setting aside INEC’s decision to omit, remove or refuse to publish the candidate’s name.
They argued that the commission’s action amounted to a denial of fair hearing and violated Sections 29 and 32 of the Electoral Act, 2026.
Specifically, the plaintiffs urged the court to declare the omission of Adebutu’s name from the final list unlawful and direct INEC to publish his name as the PDP’s governorship candidate for Ogun State within 24 hours of the court’s order.
The plaintiffs also sought other consequential reliefs to ensure that Adebutu is recognised as the party’s candidate ahead of the 2027 general election.
However, INEC opposed the suit, insisting that Adebutu’s name was not contained in the register of party members submitted to the commission by the PDP.
In a counter-affidavit deposed to by Mustapha Mohammed, a Chief Programme Analyst in INEC’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Department, the commission maintained that its records did not contain Adebutu’s name in the membership register submitted by the opposition party.
According to INEC, the only name it found in the register in respect of the party’s Ogun State governorship ticket was that of Kolapo Lateefat Oyeyemi, the deputy governorship candidate.
The disagreement over the documents submitted by the PDP and the records received by INEC featured prominently during the hearing, particularly in the testimonies of witnesses called by both parties.
At the November 5 proceedings, the PDP National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature, testified on behalf of the plaintiffs, insisting that Adebutu’s name was included in the list of candidates submitted to INEC through a flash drive.
Led in evidence by Raji, Bature told the court that the party had submitted the names of its candidates in a soft-copy format stored on a flash drive, in compliance with the Electoral Act and Paragraph 4(3) of Part I of INEC’s Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties, 2026.
He maintained that the flash drive contained the complete list of the party’s candidates, including Adebutu, contradicting INEC’s position that the former governorship candidate’s name was missing from the submitted records.
Bature also drew the court’s attention to a discrepancy in the physical appearance of the flash drives presented during the proceedings.
He said the flash drive submitted by the PDP to INEC was silver in colour, contrary to the colour of the device produced by the electoral commission in court.
The witness’s testimony was intended to support the plaintiffs’ position that Adebutu’s name had been duly submitted to the commission and that his subsequent omission from the published list was unjustified.
However, Mohammed, who testified for INEC, maintained that the commission did not receive Adebutu’s name in the list of candidates submitted by the PDP.
He further told the court that the opposition party submitted both hard and soft copies of its candidates’ list to INEC, disputing the plaintiffs’ account that the submission was made only through a flash drive.
The conflicting testimonies placed the circumstances surrounding the submission and receipt of the PDP’s candidates’ list at the centre of the dispute, with the parties maintaining opposing positions on whether Adebutu’s name was included in the documents received by INEC.
After considering the evidence presented by both sides and listening to their respective submissions, Justice Lifu adjourned the matter until Friday, November 13, for judgment.
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