Multiple witnesses on Tuesday told the National and State Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State, that the August 16 bye-election for the Ikenne/Sagamu/Remo North Federal Constituency was riddled with violence, overvoting, intimidation and widespread vote-buying.
The witnesses, lined up by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), narrated how suspected thugs allegedly loyal to the All Progressives Congress (APC) stormed polling units, disrupted voting, chased away voters, and in some cases allegedly thumb-printed ballot papers in the open.
The three-member panel, chaired by Justice A. M. Yakubu, heard that the disturbances reportedly occurred in polling units across Sagamu, Ikenne and Remo North, the same areas where the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared APC candidate, Adesola Ayoola-Elegbeji, winner of the bye-election.
Ayoola-Elegbeji was announced to have polled 41,237 votes, defeating PDP’s Bola Oluwole, who scored 14,324 votes, while the ADC candidate secured 289 votes.
But PDP rejected the outcome, insisting that the election was compromised in 448 out of the 557 polling units.
The party is asking the Tribunal to nullify the election, withdraw the certificate of return issued to Ayoola-Elegbeji and order a fresh bye-election in the constituency.
Led in evidence by PDP’s counsel, Olumuyiwa Obanewa, the first witness, Osho Babatunde from Remo North, told the panel that hoodlums allegedly acting for the APC freely moved around polling units, attacking voters without resistance from security personnel.
“I did not vote because APC thugs stormed my unit and chased everyone away. I ran for my safety and only returned after about 30 minutes. By the time I came back, people had started voting again,” he testified.
Another witness, Bolanle Jimoh, a PDP polling agent from Ode-Remo, alleged that vote-buying was conducted “openly and boldly” by APC agents who, she claimed, asked some voters to display their ballot papers after thumb-printing.
Jimoh added that thugs later stormed her unit and forced her and other PDP supporters to flee.
“They came with cards showing the APC logo and ordered PDP people to leave. I ran away. When I returned, voting had already been concluded,” she said.
She alleged that some ballot papers were thumb-printed by the invading thugs.
Another witness, Tunde Oduga, recounted how he was attacked by armed men who confiscated his phone before chasing voters away.
“When the thugs came with guns, they collected our phones and chased us away,” Oduga narrated.
A fourth witness, Olumide Odueso, alleged that the attackers ordered all non-APC voters out of the polling area before proceeding to thumb-print ballot papers.
“When I returned, the INEC officials told me voting had been completed. I checked the result sheet and saw clear signs of overvoting,” he testified.
After presenting 49 witnesses, counsel to the PDP urged the Tribunal to rely on the testimonies and documentary evidence tendered — including INEC reports — to nullify the election.
But counsels for INEC, APC and Ayoola-Elegbeji, Olutayo Ayeni, Remi Olatubora and Taiwo Osinpitan — opposed the petition and requested an adjournment to open their defence.
Justice Yakubu adjourned further hearing to December 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13, 2025, for the respondents to present their witnesses and close their cases.
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