Ogun 2027: Adebutu’s PDP Membership Number 1536 Belongs to Another Person, INEC Tells Court

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has told the Federal High Court in Abuja that membership serial number 1536, which the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, claims as his, belongs to another person.

INEC disclosed this on Tuesday in a counter-affidavit filed in response to a suit by the PDP and Adebutu, seeking an order compelling the commission to recognise him as the party’s candidate for the February 6, 2027 Ogun State governorship election.

The commission said it excluded Adebutu from the final list of 13 candidates cleared for the election because his name was not found in the PDP membership register submitted to it.

In the counter-affidavit deposed to by its Chief Programme Analyst in the Information and Communication Technology Department, Mustapha Mohammed, INEC said a search of the register produced the name of the party’s deputy governorship candidate, Dr Kolapo Lateefat Oyeyemi, but no record matching Adebutu’s details.

“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,” Mohammed stated.

The commission also 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.

It further 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 to INEC 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.

On the disputed membership number 1536, the INEC official said the commission’s record identified the registered member as Lugboso Sunday Seun, not Adebutu.

INEC maintained that it conducted due diligence on the membership register submitted by the PDP before publishing the final list of candidates for the election.

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2573/2026, followed the omission of Adebutu’s name from the list of candidates published by the commission. The PDP and its governorship candidate subsequently approached the court to challenge the decision and seek judicial intervention.

After the parties adopted their final written addresses, Justice Peter Lifu fixed Friday for judgment.

Meanwhile, a Labour Party chieftain, Arabambi Abayomi, has accused Adebutu of allegedly making false claims in the affidavit filed in support of the suit.

Abayomi, in a statement made available to journalists, alleged that Adebutu falsely claimed ownership of membership serial number 1536, which INEC identified as belonging 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 described as an alleged attempt to influence the outcome of the case.