The National and State Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal in Ibadan has directed the All Progressives Congress, the Independent National Electoral Commission, and APC candidate Adesola Ayoola-Elegbeji to open and close their defence within six days in the dispute over the August 16 Ikenne/Sagamu/Remo North Federal Constituency by-election. The order followed the decision of the Peoples Democratic Party to end its case on November 24 after presenting 26 witnesses before the three-member panel led by Justice A.M. Yakubu.
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INEC had earlier returned Ayoola-Elegbeji as the winner of the by-election with 41,237 votes, while PDP’s candidate, Bola Oluwole, recorded 14,324 votes. The African Democratic Congress candidate received 289 votes. The PDP, however, approached the tribunal to contest the outcome, claiming that voting was disrupted across 448 of the 557 polling units.
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Documents from the tribunal show that the PDP is asking the panel to cancel the election and withdraw the certificate of return issued to Ayoola-Elegbeji. The party is also seeking an order for INEC to conduct a fresh by-election for the Ikenne/Sagamu/Remo North Federal Constituency.
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The PDP legal team, led by Olumuyiwa Obanewa, listed 49 witnesses and presented several of them before the tribunal. During their testimony, the witnesses alleged acts of over-voting, intimidation, violence, and vote-buying. They were cross-examined by the legal representatives of INEC, the APC candidate, and the APC.
After closing his case, the PDP counsel asked the tribunal to rely on the evidence already presented and grant all the reliefs requested. The respondents’ counsels then asked for time to call their witnesses, proposing dates between December 8 and 13.
Justice Yakubu granted the request and adjourned the matter to the selected dates for all respondents to present their witnesses and conclude their cases.
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