•Oyekunle
The Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State, has upheld the victory of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Hon. Folajimi Oyekunle, in the August 16, 2025, by-election for Ibadan North Federal Constituency.
The tribunal dismissed the petition filed by the Social Democratic Party (SDP), which had asked the court to nullify the election and declare its candidate the winner, reports The Nation.
The SDP also contended that the election and return of Oyekunle were vitiated by non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2022, urging the tribunal to cancel the by-election and order a fresh or supplementary poll in the affected polling units.
Counsel to Hon. Oyekunle and the PDP, Tunji Ogunrinde (SAN), had challenged the competence of the petition, urging the tribunal to dismiss it on the grounds that the petitioner failed to list the candidate as a party to the suit.
In its judgment delivered on Wednesday in suit number EPT/OY/HR/01/2025, the tribunal, chaired by Justice A. M. Yakubu, dismissed the SDP’s petition for failure to prove the facts and grounds upon which it was based.
The tribunal held that the evidence presented by the petitioner’s sole witness was contradictory, unreliable, and inadmissible.
Consequently, the petition was dismissed for lacking merit, with the tribunal awarding costs of ₦2 million in favour of the PDP and its candidate, Hon. Folajimi Oyekunle.
