The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has explained why Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Ogun State, Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu, and other candidates were left off its final list for the 2027 governorship election.
The omission drew strong reactions in political circles, particularly in Ogun State, where Adebutu is expected to be a major contender in the 2027 race. INEC, however, says the decision was not an exercise of its discretion. It followed a recent Supreme Court judgment on the statutory obligations of political parties ahead of elections.
According to the commission, the Supreme Court’s September 24, 2026 judgment in INEC v. Zenith Labour Party upheld the constitutional validity of Sections 77(5)-(7) of the Electoral Act, 2026. Those provisions make the submission of political party membership registers mandatory.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Kudu Haruna, said parties were required to submit their registers between April 21 and May 10, 2026. Parties that failed to do so became ineligible to sponsor candidates for the affected election.
Haruna explained that while the commission was finalising the governorship list, it was compelled to apply the ruling and exclude candidates sponsored by parties that did not meet the requirement. The decision also affected former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, who is seeking the governorship of Gombe State, alongside Adebutu and other candidates.
The ruling ended a legal tussle over the interpretation of Section 77(5)-(7). INEC said the Supreme Court cleared the uncertainty created by an earlier Court of Appeal decision by affirming that the membership-register requirement is both constitutional and mandatory. The commission then applied that decision in preparing the final governorship list.
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INEC stressed that the presidential and National Assembly candidate lists were published on September 12, before the Supreme Court delivered its judgment, and were therefore not affected.
The affected parties have not been shut out of the process. Any party that believes its candidate was wrongly omitted has 14 days from the publication of the final list to notify the commission, a window that closes on October 24, 2026. The commission said it remains committed to transparency, adherence to the law and the credibility of the 2027 electoral process.
For Ogun State, the development places Adebutu’s governorship ambition at another critical legal and political crossroads, with attention now shifting to what steps the PDP and its candidate will take before the October 24 deadline.
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