Security agents working in collaboration with the Department of State Services (DSS) and other agencies have arrested the Ogun State chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Abayomi Tella, along with other party officials and two INEC staff members.
The group was apprehended at a hotel in the Iperu-Remo area of Ikenne LGA, reportedly in possession of a substantial amount of cash suspected to be intended for vote-buying.
A video circulating on social media shows the detained INEC staff, a man and woman, and PDP officials being interrogated by security personnel.
An unidentified interrogator explained that intelligence suggested the INEC officers had been contacted by party members to collect money from them.
In response, the detained male INEC official claimed the money was handed to him by his supervisor.
The PDP chairman introducing himself only as “PDP official in Ogun State”, denied any wrongdoing.
“You are just showing money; I don’t know anything about it.” he said.
The PDP swiftly dismissed the arrests as politically motivated.
Asiwaju Akinloye Bankole, the party’s Director of Media and Communications, labeled the operation a “ploy to intimidate and disenfranchise” PDP supporters ahead of the by-election.
He claimed Tella was peacefully resting in his hotel with his driver and an aide when security operatives launched a “commando-style operation” around 3:30 am.
He insisted that “Tella had only ₦100,000 in his room, no electoral materials were discovered in his room or vehicle.”
Bankole also underscored that Tella does not know the arrested INEC staff and could not have been sharing the same hotel space with them.
He called for the chairman’s immediate release and condemned the arrests as an attempt to suppress the opposition.
When contacted, Commissioner of Police Lanre Ogunlowo confirmed that the matter was under investigation. He offered no additional details, saying, “We are investigating the matter. That’s how much I can say for now.”
The police have pledged to release more information later in the day.
