Dr. Odun Agbalajobi, the media aide to Senator Iyabo Obasanjo, has stated that her candidacy ahead of the 2027 general election is intact. He made this statement in response to misinformation circulating about a Supreme Court judgment concerning certain provisions of the Electoral Act 2026. According to Agbalajobi, the judgment has been misrepresented, and Senator Obasanjo's candidacy is not affected.
The Supreme Court judgment in question was delivered on September 24, 2026, and arose from a legal dispute between the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) over Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7), and 84(2) of the Electoral Act 2026. The apex court upheld the validity of those provisions and set aside the earlier decision of the Court of Appeal, which had declared them unconstitutional.
Senator Iyabo Obasanjo was not a party to the case, and her name was not mentioned in the judgment. The Supreme Court did not issue any order disqualifying her from contesting the 2027 Ogun Central Senatorial election. Agbalajobi emphasized that it is mischievous and intellectually dishonest to transform a judgment in a dispute between INEC and a political party into a purported judicial pronouncement against a particular candidate who was neither a party to the suit nor the subject of the judgment.
Senator Obasanjo resigned her membership of the All Progressives Congress in May 2026 and subsequently returned to the Peoples Democratic Party, where she was formally received and presented with the party's Ogun Central Senatorial ticket. These developments were publicly reported by several mainstream Nigerian media organizations at the time.
Agbalajobi stressed that the Supreme Court's restoration of provisions of the Electoral Act does not, by itself, constitute a judicial declaration that every politician who has moved from one political party to another is disqualified from seeking elective office. He noted that there is a fundamental difference between a court interpreting the general requirements of electoral law and a court declaring a particular candidate disqualified.
The aide urged members of the public, particularly the people of Ogun Central, to disregard sensational interpretations being circulated on social media and political platforms as though they were orders of the Supreme Court. He emphasized that the electorate deserves facts, not legal conjecture presented as judicial pronouncement. Senator Obasanjo remains focused on her engagement with the people of Ogun Central and on the issues affecting their communities.
Agbalajobi called on those circulating claims about Senator Obasanjo's disqualification to produce the specific paragraph of the Supreme Court judgment in which she was mentioned, the specific order disqualifying her, or the specific judicial pronouncement invalidating the PDP's nomination of her. He concluded that no amount of misinformation, disinformation, or disingenuous distortion of facts will alter the distinction between what the Supreme Court actually decided and what political actors wish the public to believe it decided.
Key points
- Senator Iyabo Obasanjo's candidacy for the 2027 Ogun Central Senatorial election remains intact despite a Supreme Court judgment on certain provisions of the Electoral Act 2026.
