Adebutu Dismisses INEC Omission, Says He Will Contest Ogun 2027 Governorship Election
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Ogun State, Oladipupo Adebutu, has dismissed his omission from the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) list of candidates as a temporary distraction, insisting that he remains determined to contest the 2027 governorship election.
Adebutu spoke on Monday at the PDP state secretariat in Abeokuta, where he received more than 1,000 defectors from the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The defectors were led by former House of Representatives member Segun William and formally welcomed by Adebutu, his running mate, Alhaja Yemi Sowunmi-Kolapo, and other party chieftains, including the PDP’s Ogun Central senatorial candidate, Iyabo Obasanjo.
Adebutu and his running mate were omitted from INEC’s updated list of governorship candidates for Ogun State, published on the commission’s website.
The development followed INEC’s review of petitions challenging the final lists of governorship and State House of Assembly candidates for the 2027 elections. The commission said it upheld 66 petitions and rejected 64 others.
INEC had earlier attributed the exclusion of Adebutu and other affected candidates to political parties’ failure to comply with the membership register requirements under the Electoral Act, 2026. The commission cited a September 24 Supreme Court judgment affirming the constitutionality of the provisions requiring parties to submit their membership registers.
Addressing party members, Adebutu expressed confidence that the controversy would be resolved, maintaining that he remained a registered and committed member of the PDP.
He challenged those questioning his membership to provide evidence that he had ever left the party, insisting that he had neither defected to the APC nor visited its secretariat.
Adebutu said he had contested elections on the PDP platform for about two decades and was actively involved in the party’s recent membership registration exercise in Ogun State.
He disclosed that more than 19,800 members were registered during the exercise, adding that his membership registration number was 1536.
Describing the omission as an attempt to distract the opposition and disenfranchise voters, Adebutu urged supporters to remain focused on the party’s mobilisation efforts across the state.
He said the PDP had visited 12 of Ogun’s 20 local government areas and more than 140 of its 236 wards, adding that the mobilisation exercise would continue.
Earlier, William said the defectors left the APC because, in their view, the party had failed to uphold democratic values and deliver meaningful development in Ogun State.
William, who traced his involvement in partisan politics to 2007, said his experience in the ruling party had convinced him that a change of political platform was necessary.
He added that the defectors were joining the PDP to contribute to the development of the state.
The former lawmaker also thanked Adebutu and other PDP leaders for welcoming them into the party.
By Oluwafemi Shodipe.
