Tribunal Dismisses PDP Petition, Affirms Elegbeji’s Victory in Ikenne/Sagamu/Remo By-Election

The National and State House of Assembly Election Tribunal sitting at Iyaganku, Ibadan, has dismissed the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate challenging the outcome of the Ikenne/Sagamu/Remo Federal Constituency by-election held in August 2025.

In its judgment delivered on Tuesday, February 4, 2026, the tribunal upheld the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Hon. Adesola Elegbeji, ruling that the petition was both technically incompetent and lacking in merit.

The tribunal sustained the preliminary objections raised by counsel to Hon. Elegbeji, Prof. Taiwo Osipitan, SAN, and counsel to the APC, Dr. Remi Olatubora, SAN, who argued that the petition failed to meet the legal requirements for pleading allegations of criminal conduct.

According to the senior advocates, the petitioners alleged widespread ballot paper and ballot box snatching in 576 polling units without naming the individuals involved or establishing any nexus between the alleged acts and the respondents. They maintained that allegations bordering on criminality must be clearly pleaded and strictly proved.

In upholding the objections, the tribunal held that allegations of ballot snatching and hijacking are grave criminal claims that cannot be sustained without identifying the perpetrators and proving their connection to Hon. Elegbeji and the APC. The tribunal consequently struck out the affected paragraphs of the petition, describing them as legally defective and incapable of sustaining the claims.

Despite striking out the key allegations, the tribunal proceeded to examine the petition on its merits. After evaluating the evidence, it ruled that the petitioners failed to discharge the burden of proof required by law.

The tribunal further held that the INEC Presiding Officers’ Form G tendered to support allegations of violence lacked probative value, as the documents were not tendered by their makers—the presiding officers who completed them.

It also observed that although the petitioners alleged irregularities in 576 polling units, they called only 26 witnesses, a figure the tribunal described as grossly insufficient to substantiate such extensive claims.

Consequently, the tribunal dismissed the petition in its entirety for lack of merit and affirmed Hon. Adesola Elegbeji as the duly elected representative of the Ikenne/Sagamu/Remo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.