Get Guardian on GoogleThe All Progressives Congress (APC) has said a Federal High Court judgment restoring Oladipupo Adebutu to the list of governorship candidates will not affect its campaign strategy or determine the outcome of the 2027 Ogun State governorship election.
Hon Kayode Oladele, chairman of the Planning Committee of the Ogun State APC Presidential and Gubernatorial Campaign Council, said the judgment addressed Adebutu’s legal right to contest but did not confer an electoral mandate on him.
He said the choice of the next governor would ultimately rest with the electorate, adding that the APC would continue its statewide campaign behind its governorship candidate, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as Yayi.
Oladele said the party would focus its campaign on its candidate’s record in public service and proposals for infrastructure, education, healthcare and economic development.
“A court judgment on candidacy is not an electoral mandate. The PDP is entitled to celebrate the ruling, but the electorate will determine the outcome of the governorship contest. Our campaign remains focused on the issues and on presenting our candidate’s record and development proposals,” he said.
But Oladele, a lawyer and former member of the House of Representatives, questioned the legal reasoning attributed to Justice Peter Lifu in the judgment, particularly its implications for the Supreme Court’s decision in INEC v Zenith Labour Party.
He argued that the reported judgment appeared to assume that any exclusion of a candidate from the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) list amounted to a personal disqualification requiring a prior court order.
According to him, that interpretation risks conflating the disqualification of an individual candidate with a political party’s inability to sponsor candidates because of alleged non-compliance with statutory requirements under the Electoral Act.
“The distinction is fundamental. The Supreme Court upheld the validity of sections 77(5), 77(6) and 77(7) of the Electoral Act 2026 and recognised that an individual may possess the constitutional qualifications for election while the sponsoring political party remains subject to a statutory disability,” he said.
Oladele said the central legal question was whether INEC had unlawfully disqualified Adebutu personally or acted within its statutory powers in addressing an alleged breach involving the PDP’s nomination process.
He added that the Supreme Court had neither made compliance with section 77 optional nor established that a candidate’s constitutional qualifications automatically remedied a statutory disability affecting the sponsoring party.
Oladele said these issues could feature in any appeal against the judgment, alongside questions about the authenticity of the relevant register, the assessment of evidence and the interpretation of the Electoral Act.
“The question for an appellate court is whether the learned trial judge correctly reconciled his factual findings with the binding principles established by the Supreme Court. It is not enough to describe INEC’s action as disqualification without examining the statutory foundation of the commission’s decision,” he said.
Citing section 287(1) of the constitution, Oladele said subordinate courts and public authorities were required to give effect to decisions of the Supreme Court.
He maintained that any departure from established Supreme Court principles would raise significant questions on appeal.
The APC chieftain said his party would continue its campaign in line with INEC’s timetable while allowing the parties concerned to pursue the legal process.
“The judicial process and the electoral campaign are two distinct matters. Ogun State voters will soon determine who governs the state,” he said.
