The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to include and publish the name of the Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship candidate in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, within 24 hours.

Justice Peter Lifu gave the directive on Friday in a suit filed by the PDP and Adebutu after INEC omitted the former lawmaker’s name from its list of candidates for the 2027 governorship election.

The plaintiffs had approached the court on October 22, seeking to compel the electoral commission to recognise Adebutu as the party’s candidate.

They challenged his omission from the final list of candidates published by INEC on October 10, arguing that the decision violated provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 and denied them a fair hearing.

Among other reliefs, they asked the court to set aside the commission’s decision and direct it to publish Adebutu’s name within 24 hours of the order.

INEC, however, maintained that Adebutu’s name was not contained in the register of party members earlier submitted by the PDP.

In a counter-affidavit, the commission’s Chief Programme Analyst in the Information and Communication Technology Department, Mustapha Mohammed, said only the name of the party’s deputy governorship candidate, Kolapo Lateefat Oyeyemi, was found in the register.

During proceedings on November 5, the PDP National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature, told the court that Adebutu’s name was included in the flash drive containing the party’s list of candidates submitted to INEC.

Bature also disputed the flash drive presented by the commission, saying the device submitted by the PDP was silver in colour.

He said the party submitted only a soft copy of its candidates’ list, in line with the Electoral Act and INEC’s 2026 Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties.

However, Mohammed insisted in his testimony that Adebutu’s name was absent from the list submitted by the PDP, adding that the party provided both hard and soft copies.

After hearing the parties, Justice Lifu fixed November 13 for judgment.