As the by-election commenced Saturday morning in Ogun State, security operatives reportedly arrested the state Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Abayomi Tella, alongside other party officials and two personnel of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), at a hotel in the Iperu-Remo area of Ikenne Local Government.
A video circulating on social media shows the arrested individuals, including a male and female INEC official, being interrogated by an unidentified security operative. The individuals were seen squatting on the ground while facing questioning.
According to the interrogator in the video, intelligence reports alleged that the INEC officials had received a substantial sum of money from PDP officials to facilitate vote-buying during the by-election. The interrogation further revealed that the male INEC staff claimed he had been instructed by a supervisor to collect the money from party operatives.
In the same video, Tella identified himself as a PDP official but denied any involvement in vote-buying, stating, “You are just showing money; I don’t know anything about it.”
However, the PDP has strongly condemned the arrest, calling it a deliberate attempt to intimidate and suppress its members during the electoral process. The party’s Director of Media and Communications, Asiwaju Akinloye Bankole, released a statement accusing the security operatives of storming Tella’s hotel room in a “commando-style” operation around 3:30 am.
Bankole clarified that Tella was in his hotel room with his driver and aide at the time of the arrest and insisted that no incriminating evidence was found.
“There were no electoral materials or large sums of money in the chairman’s possession. He had only N100,000 with him. This is clearly a ploy to frighten our supporters and disrupt the election process,” Bankole said.
He also denied any links between Tella and the arrested INEC officials, stating, “The chairman does not know the INEC staff involved. It is practically impossible for him to be lodging in the same hotel room with electoral officials. He was merely performing his duties as the party’s state chairman.”
Meanwhile, the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Lanre Ogunlowo, confirmed that the command is investigating the incident involving the arrest of the PDP chairman and the INEC officials, as well as the alleged possession of large sums of money suspected to be intended for vote-buying during the ongoing Remo Federal Constituency by-election.
