The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has excluded Ladi Adebutu, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Ogun State, and his running mate from its final list of candidates for the 6 February 2027 governorship election.
According to the INEC’s final list of governorship candidates reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES, the exclusion of Mr Adebutu leaves the PDP governorship ticket absent from the 13 candidates listed by the fee for the election, elevating questions in regards to the celebration’s participation within the contest.
The list, signed by INEC Secretary Rose Oriaran-Anthony, accommodates candidates from 13 political events. The list additionally contains African Democratic Congress (ADC) governorship candidate, Lawal Adebisi, and his running mate, Olutayo Florence, following courtroom order.
What could possibly be the the issue
The improvement comes amid questions in regards to the PDP candidate’s eligibility to run for subsequent yr’s elections, following allegations by civil society teams that his identify was lacking from the celebration’s membership register submitted to INEC.
The two civil society teams, Ogun Democratic Accountability Forum be twenty third and Elections Integrity Watch had raised considerations about Mr Adebutu’s absence from the celebration’s register and demanded for his disqualification within the governorship election race.
Elections Integrity Watch mentioned a licensed true copy of the PDP membership register it obtained from INEC didn’t comprise Mr Adebutu’s identify, elevating questions in regards to the documentation supporting his candidacy.
Although INEC had but to publicly clarify the omission of Mr Adebutu and his running mate as of the time of submitting this report.
The Electoral Act 2026 outlines a process for political events whose candidates’ names are lacking from INEC’s printed list.
Section 32(1) requires the fee to publish the names and addresses of all candidates standing nominated no less than 60 days earlier than an election.
Under Section 32(2), a registered political celebration that discovers its candidate’s identify is lacking should notify INEC in writing inside 14 days of publication. The notification have to be signed by the celebration’s nationwide chairman and secretary and supported by an affidavit.
The provisions set up a proper course of for notifying INEC about an omitted candidate. However, the exact implications for the PDP ticket is dependent upon the circumstances surrounding the omission and any subsequent motion by the celebration or the fee.
Although the celebration had not publicly indicated if it had formally notified INEC of the omission or whether or not it supposed to problem the printed list.
READ ALSO: INEC lists 16 candidates for Gombe governorship race, omits PDP’s Pantami
Other candidates on the list
Apart from the ADC and the All Progressives Congress (APC), whose candidate is Adeola Olamilekan, a serving Nigerian senator, the printed list contains candidates from a number of different events.
They are Okewole Shuaib of Party A; Awofala Awoniyi of the Action Alliance (AA); Anifowose Kayode of the Action Democratic Party (ADP); Babajide Mathew of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM); and Layi Halima of the Action Peoples Party (APP).
Others are Adenuga Dreher of the Boot Party (BP); Dasaolu Olamilekan of the National Democratic Party (NDP); Akinbola Hammed of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP); Fayoyin Ezekiel of the National Rescue Movement (NRM); Ola Willams of the Social Democratic Party (SDP); and Johnson Cyrus of the Young Progressives Party (YPP).
Ogun State is among the many 28 states scheduled to carry governorship elections on 6 February 2027, alongside elections into their respective Houses of Assembly.
INEC Chairman Joash Amupitan had earlier introduced that 21 of the nation’s 22 registered political events nominated 936 governorship and deputy governorship candidates throughout the 28 states holding elections in 2027. The events additionally nominated 9,692 candidates for State Houses of Assembly elections.
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