BREAKING: Court Orders INEC To Recognise Adebutu As Ogun PDP Candidate

According to a report by TVC News on Friday 13 November 2026, the Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to include and publish the name of Ladi Adebutu as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate for Ogun State in the 2027 general elections.

The order was reportedly issued by Justice Peter Lifu, who directed the electoral commission to recognise Adebutu and list his name among candidates contesting in the forthcoming governorship election.

However, the dispute arose after INEC excluded Adebutu’s name from its final list of candidates published on October 10, prompting the PDP and the politician to approach the court on October 22.

In its defence, INEC maintained that Adebutu’s name was missing from the PDP membership register submitted to the commission; The electoral body said its records contained the name of the party’s deputy governorship candidate, Kolapo Lateefat Oyeyemi, but not Adebutu’s.

The PDP, however, disputed INEC’s position; The party’s National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature, told the court that Adebutu’s name was included in the flash drive containing the list of candidates submitted to the commission.

Bature also questioned the flash drive presented by INEC, insisting that the device submitted by the party was silver in colour.

INEC’s witness, Mustapha Mohammed, a Chief Programme Analyst in its Information and Communication Technology Department, maintained that Adebutu’s name was absent from the documents received by the commission.

The case, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2573/2026, centred on the disagreement over the documents submitted by the PDP and the circumstances surrounding Adebutu’s exclusion from the candidates’ list.