Court Stops AGF From Prosecuting Ex-Ogun PDP Guber Candidate, Ladi Adebutu

A Federal High Court in Abuja has barred the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) from proceeding with its case against Oladipupo Adebutu, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the 2023 election.

Naija News reports that Adebutu, along with nine PDP members, had been accused of vote-buying and criminal inducement during the March 18, 2023, election in Ogun State.

In a ruling on Friday, Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo held that the prosecution of electoral offenses falls under the jurisdiction of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), not the AGF.

With this judgment, the case against Adebutu can only proceed if INEC takes up the matter, effectively halting the AGF’s involvement in the prosecution.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has dismissed the departure of its 2023 governorship candidate, Abdul-Azeez Adediran, popularly known as Jandor, stating that his exit is of no consequence to the party.

Jandor, who announced his resignation from the PDP March 3, 2025, announced his return to the APC during a press conference on Monday, March 17.

Reacting to Jandor’s defection back to the All Progressives Congress (APC), Lagos PDP Vice Chairman (Central), Hakeem Olalemi, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), accused the former candidate of infiltrating the party to weaken it from within.

“He (Jandor) is a human being, and the Nigerian Constitution allows freedom of association. He is free to resign from any group or party and join any group he wants. We will miss his shenanigans, comedy, and cunningness.

“So, we will not miss anything good about him in the party because he has done huge havoc on our party in Lagos State. He has come to our party to spy, and he ruined the party,” Olalemi stated.

Expressing optimism about the party’s future, Olalemi assured party members and the public that efforts were underway to rebuild the PDP in Lagos and reposition it for victory in 2027.