Politicians left off the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) final lists for the 2027 elections should abandon further legal battles and begin preparing for future contests, former Kaduna Central senator Shehu Sani has said.

Sani’s intervention comes amid growing uncertainty over the electoral prospects of prominent Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) figures, including Ladi Adebutu in Ogun State and Isa Ali Pantami in Gombe, whose names were missing from INEC’s final lists.

He urged the affected candidates to stop spending money and time on what he described as a lost battle and instead focus on their next political opportunity.

He made the appeal in a post on X on Saturday, October 10, urging lawyers representing the aggrieved politicians, including Senior Advocates of Nigeria, to reconsider encouraging further litigation.

“The Supreme Court ruling that enabled INEC to exclude some names of candidates is very clear,” Sani wrote.

“Affected candidates should not waste their money, time and energy fighting a lost battle.”

The former lawmaker also appealed to legal practitioners to spare their clients the financial burden of pursuing additional court cases, advising them to accept the setback and begin preparing for subsequent elections.

“Four years will come and go; let them strategise for the future,” he added.

Sani’s intervention comes amid growing uncertainty over the participation of prominent political figures in the 2027 governorship elections following their absence from INEC’s final lists.

Among those affected are Peoples Democratic Party governorship figures Ladi Adebutu in Ogun State and Isa Ali Pantami in Gombe State, whose names, alongside those of their running mates, do not appear on the commission’s published lists.

Adebutu had emerged as the PDP’s governorship candidate in Ogun, while Pantami recently won a fresh party primary to secure the ticket in Gombe. However, neither candidate was included in INEC’s final list for the respective state.

The commission’s published documents do not state the specific reasons for their omission, leaving questions over the immediate political implications for the PDP in both states.

The controversy follows a September ruling by a seven-member panel of the Supreme Court, which upheld INEC’s appeal and restored provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 governing political party membership registers and participation in party primaries.

Section 77(5) of the Act provides that only party members whose names appear in a membership register submitted to INEC at least 21 days before a primary, congress or convention can participate in the exercise. Related provisions regulate the use and submission of party membership registers.

The ruling has significant implications for political parties preparing for the 2027 elections, particularly where questions arise over compliance with statutory requirements for candidate nomination.

Adebutu’s camp has pushed back against the exclusion, with the Ogun PDP insisting that he remained a duly registered party member and that his membership details were verified and submitted to INEC within the stipulated period.

The party accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of mounting pressure on the electoral commission, an allegation not independently established in the reports reviewed. It expressed confidence that Adebutu’s name would eventually be published.

The dispute leaves the PDP facing a critical test in Ogun as preparations for the February 2027 governorship election gather pace.

While Shehu Sani has urged excluded politicians to abandon what he considers a lost legal battle and prepare for future contests, Adebutu’s camp is maintaining that his nomination remains valid.