Ogun 2023: Court dismisses Lawal’s lawsuit and upholds Adebutu as PDP candidate

Court dismisses Lawal’s lawsuit in Ogun 2023 and upholds Adebutu as the legitimate PDP candidate.

On Thursday in Abuja, Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court confirmed that Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu will represent the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the legitimate candidate in the Ogun State gubernatorial election of next year.

In upholding Adebutu’s election by his party, Justice Ekwo ruled that the plaintiff, Mr. Jimi Adebisi Lawal, had fallen short of establishing that the PDP had broken any laws in choosing its candidate for the March 11, 2023 gubernatorial election.

The judge ruled that Lawal had not offered trustworthy or credible proof to back up his claim of election fraud.

As a result, Justice Ekwo dismissed the case because it lacked both competence and merit.

Justice Ekwo, who delivered the ruling, referred to Lawal as a “spoiler” since he switched from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the PDP in March and took part in the May governorship primary.

The court ruled that Lawal’s list of delegates, which had been certified by the PDP and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), is the same list that was used during the party’s primary, in which Adebutu won.