2027: How PDP crisis threatens Adebutu’s Ogun gov ambition

INEC excluded Oladipupo Adebutu and his running mate, Yemi Sowunmi-Kolapo, from its final list of candidates for the 2027 Ogun State governorship election. That list is crucial because it determines which party nominees are formally recognised for the contest. Their omission has therefore placed Adebutu’s campaign in serious uncertainty.

Adebutu maintains that he was properly registered as a PDP member and qualified to contest. INEC, however, said the PDP did not meet the requirement to submit its membership register before conducting valid primaries. The commission also rejected the PDP’s petition after the 14-day appeal period ended.

The dispute is linked to the PDP’s national leadership crisis and parallel membership exercises. Adebutu is associated with the Turaki-led faction, while INEC recognises the Mohammed-led executive. Unless the exclusion is changed, Adebutu may be unable to challenge the APC again in Ogun.

INEC’s official candidate list is the commission’s published record of nominees recognised for an election. It matters because party primaries alone do not settle the contest when the commission has not accepted the nomination process and candidate details. In Adebutu’s case, omission means his party’s preferred governorship ticket was not included in the final published list.

The key mechanism involved party compliance. INEC said the PDP failed to submit its membership register before holding valid primaries. The commission also did not add Adebutu after the PDP petitioned over his omission, because the 14-day window had expired. His running mate, Yemi Sowunmi-Kolapo, was omitted too.

The practical consequence is potentially decisive. Adebutu could be shut out of the February 6, 2027 race, even though he says he belongs to the PDP and qualified to run. The dispute also exposes how internal party divisions can affect an election campaign.

Adebutu received 262,383 votes in the March 18, 2023 Ogun State governorship election. The figure shows that he previously attracted significant support in the state and had already mounted a serious challenge for the governorship. It also explains why his possible absence matters beyond an internal party dispute.

His 2023 performance gives the PDP a known candidate with recent electoral experience. Adebutu is now seeking another chance to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress in Ogun. However, the article reports that INEC excluded him and his running mate from the 2027 candidate list.

The current problem is not a lack of stated ambition. Adebutu insists he was properly registered as a PDP member and qualified to contest. INEC instead focused on the PDP’s failure to submit its membership register before valid primaries. The dispute could remove a previously competitive figure from the next race.

INEC said Adebutu could not be included because the PDP failed to comply with the requirement to submit its membership register before holding valid primaries. The commission’s position made the party’s nomination process defective for candidate-list purposes. It maintained this position after the PDP petitioned over Adebutu’s omission.

The dispute centres on two rival PDP factions. Both conducted membership registration exercises, but INEC recognises the executive led by Abdulrahman Mohammed. An Ogun PDP official said Adebutu registered with the Turaki-led faction instead. The official said his name was missing from the digital register submitted by the Mohammed-led executive 21 days before the primary.

Adebutu rejects questions about his membership and says he was duly registered and qualified. Supporters accuse the Wike-backed faction of targeting him because of his relationship with the Turaki faction. INEC nevertheless left him off the final list after the 14-day appeal window expired.

Adebutu’s exclusion could prevent him from contesting the February 6, 2027 Ogun governorship election. He is already facing the same kind of uncertainty that disrupted an earlier attempt in 2019. The immediate issue is whether his name can appear on INEC’s final candidate list after the commission rejected the PDP’s petition.

The political stakes extend beyond Adebutu personally. He won 262,383 votes in 2023 and is seeking another chance to oppose the ruling All Progressives Congress. Losing him could remove a familiar PDP contender and create further uncertainty over the party’s campaign in Ogun.

The article does not state the final legal or political outcome. It does show that the PDP’s national leadership crisis has affected its state nomination process. With rival factions claiming authority, the controversy may shape both Adebutu’s political future and the PDP’s prospects against the APC.

Adebutu faced a similar crisis before the 2019 governorship election. The PDP’s leadership dispute produced two factions, and each conducted a separate governorship primary. The conflict meant that Adebutu’s emergence from one primary did not guarantee that INEC would accept him as the party’s candidate.

Adebutu emerged from the primary organised by the National Working Committee led by Uche Secondus. Late senator Buruji Kashamu emerged from a parallel exercise conducted by the Adebayo Dayo-led state executive faction. The competing claims created a dispute over which party structure had authority.

Adebutu ultimately lost the ticket after a Federal High Court directed INEC to recognise Kashamu as the PDP candidate. The 2019 episode is important because the article presents the current exclusion as a recurring danger. Eight years later, another internal disagreement has again placed his governorship ambition in jeopardy.

Party membership registers establish who belongs to the party and can be considered for its nomination process. Internal primaries then select the party’s candidate. For that result to reach the election ballot, the party must follow INEC’s requirements, including submitting the relevant membership register before a valid primary.

The article gives Adebutu’s case as an example. INEC said the PDP failed to submit its register before conducting valid primaries. An Ogun official said Adebutu registered with the Turaki-led faction, while his name was absent from the digital register submitted by the INEC-recognised Mohammed-led executive. That disagreement affected his nomination.

INEC later omitted Adebutu and Yemi Sowunmi-Kolapo from the final list. The commission did not change the decision after the PDP’s petition because the 14-day window had expired. Thus, party recognition, register inclusion, primary validity, and timely appeals can determine whether a nominee is formally accepted to run.