The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, (AGF) Lateef Fagbemi have been barred by the Federal High Court in Abuja from proceeding with its case against Oladipupo Adebutu, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the 2023 election.
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.
More to come…