The Ibadan Judicial Division of the Court of Appeal, on Friday, dismissed the appeal filed by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) challenging the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Ikenne/Sagamu/Remo Federal Constituency by-election held on 16 August 2025. The appellate court awarded a cost of ₦5 million in favour of the APC candidate, Adesola Elegbeji.
It will be recalled that when the appeal came up for hearing on Wednesday, 7 January 2026, counsel to Hon Elegbeji, Mrs Olayemi Badewole, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and counsel to the APC, Remi Olatubora, (SAN), raised preliminary objections challenging the competence of the appeal.
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They argued that the appellant, Ayoola Adesola, failed to transmit a complete record of appeal to the Court of Appeal, thereby robbing the court of jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
During proceedings, it was discovered that the pre-hearing report of the National and State Houses of Assembly Election Tribunal, upon which the appeal was founded, had been surreptitiously removed from the record of appeal transmitted to the appellate court.
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Messrs Badewole and Olatubora consequently urged the court to decline jurisdiction, insisting that an appellate court cannot validly hear an appeal based on an incomplete record.
Counsel to the SDP, Mr Adewole Adebayo, however, offered no explanation for the omission of the Tribunal’s pre-hearing report from the record of appeal.
Meanwhile, in November 2025, the National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State, had earlier struck out the SDP’s petition over the same election for want of diligent prosecution.
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At the time, counsel to the petitioner, Mr Ebenezer Akingbuli, informed the Tribunal that his witness was absent for the second consecutive time and sought an adjournment.
The application was opposed by Taiwo Osipitan, (SAN), counsel to Hon Elegbeji, and Remi Olatubora, (SAN), counsel to the APC, who urged the Tribunal to dismiss the petition.
With the Court of Appeal’s decision, the victory of the APC candidate in the August 2025 by-election remains in place.
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