The Director of Media for the Ladi Adebutu Campaign Organisation, Afolabi Orekoya, has questioned the omission of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Ladi Adebutu, from the Independent National Electoral Commission’s final list of candidates for the February 6, 2027 Ogun State governorship election, insisting that he fulfilled the necessary registration requirements.
Orekoya made the position known on Monday, October 12, while speaking on FRONTLINE, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, following the publication of the final lists of governorship candidates in 28 states by INEC on Saturday.
Adebutu’s name was reportedly missing from the Ogun State list, although the PDP had candidates listed for other elective positions in the state.
Speaking on the development, Orekoya said Adebutu registered online as a member of the PDP on April 17, 2026, ahead of the May 10 deadline set by INEC for political parties to update and submit their membership registers.
He maintained that the governorship candidate completed the registration process and received a membership card, which he said was attached to the form submitted to the electoral commission.
“Hon Ladiipo Adebutu registered on the online registration of the PDP on April 17th as a member of the PDP which was also within the window given by INEC before the submission in May,” Orekoya said.
He added that Adebutu’s registration details were available to support the campaign organisation’s position that the candidate had complied with the requirements.
“No wonders why somebody will say he did not register, he fulfilled the process and got his ID card membership Card Generated which was Attached to his form that was submitted to INEC,” he stated.
To further support his argument, Orekoya claimed that Adebutu’s name and membership number had appeared in an earlier publication by INEC.
“The publication that INEC made pasted not only his name but wrote his membership numbers on it,” he said.
“There are a lot of moral evidence to back this up. The same They posted it there in INEC fences with its membership number.”
The campaign organisation’s media director questioned why the candidate’s name was subsequently missing from the final list, particularly as other PDP candidates in Ogun State were included.
“You see we have no Candidate for no positions; Ogun PDP has candidate for all positions,” he said.
“It is only Ladi Adebutu that they can’t find its name on the list.”
Orekoya also criticised members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who, according to him, had celebrated Adebutu’s absence from the list before its publication.
He questioned how the APC members appeared to have anticipated the development and why they were celebrating the prospect of contesting the election without Adebutu as an opponent.
“A week ago they went about jubilating that they don’t have an opponent. How did they know?, while would the Candidate of APC will be jubilating and congratulating over Candidates that we don’t have opponent Again,” he asked.
On the PDP’s internal leadership crisis, Orekoya argued that the dispute should not invalidate Adebutu’s registration, maintaining that the process was conducted under the party leadership recognised by INEC at the time.
“The internal party crisis then has nothing to do with the Situation on ground, it was so clear that INEC was dealing with a particular party about the leadership they were dealing with which was the Wike led PDP, it was the leadership that was recognize by INEC,” he said.
He further stated that Adebutu’s camp participated in the registration exercise conducted under the recognised leadership.
“Actually Conducted the process registration contact then which we participated fully,” Orekoya stated.
The campaign organisation urged PDP supporters and residents of Ogun State to remain peaceful while efforts were made to resolve the matter with the electoral commission.
“Our people and good people of the ogun state should stay calm,” he said.
Orekoya disclosed that the PDP’s national leadership was already engaging INEC over the omission, expressing hope that the matter would be addressed.
“The party at the national level is already in touch with INEC.”
As of the time of the interview, no response from INEC addressing the specific claims made by the campaign organisation was included in Orekoya’s remarks.
