…claims to have obtained CTC copy of PDP register from INEC
. Questions Adebutu’s eligibility for the PDP governorship ticket
The name of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate for Ogun State in the 2027 general elections, Hon. Ladi Adebutu, is not contained in the membership register submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ahead of the forthcoming elections in the state, a group, Ogun Democratic Accountability Forum (ODAF) has claimed.
According to ODAF, it confirmed this development through a Certified True Copy of the PDP register it obtained from INEC this week; for which it paid the prescribed fee and was issued a receipt.
Based on this alleged discovery, the group has questioned Adebutu’s eligibility for the PDP governorship ticket, noting that his name was missing from the register submitted to INEC within the statutory period prescribed for political parties ahead of their primaries.
According to Section 77(4) of the Electoral Act 2026, each political party is required to make its membership register available to INEC not later than 21 days before the date fixed for its primaries, congresses or conventions.
Recall that INEC initially fixed April 21, 2026 as the deadline for submission of the registers but later extended the final deadline to May 10, 2026 following consultations with political parties and adjustments made to the timetable for party primaries.
INEC subsequently confirmed that all 22 registered political parties had submitted their membership registers by May 8, 2026, two days before the extended deadline.
The Commission stated that the registers would be subjected to the necessary verification processes in accordance with the law.
ODAF, however, claimed that the Certified True Copy obtained from INEC shows that Adebutu’s name was missing from the document submitted to the Commission at the relevant time.
The group noted that the timeline is significant because the Electoral Act requires parties to submit their membership registers ahead of their primaries and attaches legal consequences to whether an individual’s name appears on the register filed with INEC.
ODAF further stated that Adebutu held his congress under the Tanimu Turaki faction of the PDP, referring to the Supreme Court judgment of April 30, 2026, which dismissed the faction’s appeal, nullified its Ibadan national convention held on November 15 to 16, 2025 and affirmed the recognised leadership.
The group claimed that Adebutu subsequently moved to the Nyesom Wike-led structure without undergoing the ordinary membership registration process, insisting that the Ogun PDP candidate’s name was not on the register filed with INEC by the Wike-led faction before the applicable deadline.
ODAF also cited the Supreme Court judgment delivered on September 24, 2026, which restored Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7) and 84(2) of the Electoral Act 2026 after setting aside the Court of Appeal decision that had struck down those provisions.
Section 77(5) provides that only members whose names are contained in the register are eligible to vote and be voted for in party primaries, congresses and conventions. Section 77(6) provides that a political party shall not use any register other than the one submitted to INEC for those exercises. Section 77(7) provides consequences where a party fails to submit its membership register within the stipulated period.
According to ODAF, the combined effect of these provisions and the Supreme Court judgment is that the membership register submitted within the legally prescribed period is decisive in determining eligibility to participate in party nomination exercises.
The group maintained that a political party cannot subsequently substitute the register already submitted to INEC or retrospectively insert the name of a person who was not originally contained in the document used for the relevant primary.
ODAF therefore called on the INEC Chairman, the Commission’s ICT Department and other units responsible for membership data to ensure that no alteration is made to the register already submitted to the Commission.
It warned that any retrospective insertion into the register would compromise the integrity of the document and breach the provisions of the Electoral Act restored by the Supreme Court.
ODAF also raised questions over the payment made for Adebutu’s governorship nomination, stating that the money was paid through private business accounts rather than an official PDP account.
The accounts identified by the group were: Cowries Craft Enterprises — Ample Microfinance Bank — 2010002243
Cowries Craft Enterprises — Parallex Bank — 1000262011
ODAF said the circumstances surrounding those payments, taken together with the confirmed absence of Adebutu’s name from the membership register submitted to INEC, raised serious questions about the process leading to his nomination.
The group maintained that participation in a congress conducted under a faction whose national convention was subsequently invalidated by the courts cannot cure the absence of Adebutu’s name from the membership register submitted to INEC within the prescribed period.
ODAF further stated that the Certified True Copy in its possession is the operative PDP membership register submitted to INEC for the relevant nomination exercise and that the absence of Adebutu’s name therefore raises a substantial question under Sections 77(4), 77(5) and 77(6) of the Electoral Act 2026.
On that basis, ODAF contended that Adebutu stands disqualified from contesting the 2027 Ogun State governorship election, urging INEC to apply the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act to the membership register submitted by the PDP.
Adebutu and the PDP had yet to respond to the ODAF’s claims as of the time of this report.
