Security operatives have arrested some officials of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State alongside two staff members of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at a hotel in Iperu-Remo, Ikenne Local Government Area of the state.
The suspects were reportedly caught with a large sum of money suspected to be for vote buying during the ongoing by-election in the Remo Federal Constituency.
In a video clip circulating on social media on Saturday, the arrested INEC officials — a male and a female — as well as PDP officers were seen squatting on the floor while being interrogated by an unidentified security operative.
According to the interrogator, intelligence reports indicated that the INEC officials had been contacted and allegedly received huge cash from PDP members to influence the outcome of the election.
The male INEC official confessed in the video that his supervisor instructed him to collect the money from the politicians. However, one of the arrested PDP members, who identified himself as an official of the party in Ogun State, denied any wrongdoing. He said:
“You are just showing money; I don’t know anything about it.”
PDP Reacts: “It’s a Ploy to Intimidate Us”
Meanwhile, the Ogun State chapter of the PDP has dismissed the allegations, describing the arrest as a deliberate attempt to intimidate its members and disenfranchise voters ahead of the poll.
In a statement by its Director of Media and Communications, Asiwaju Akinloye Bankole, the party alleged that security operatives broke into the hotel room of its officer around 3:30am in a “commando-style operation.”
Bankole maintained that contrary to the viral reports, the arrested officer was neither found with electoral materials nor with large sums of money.
“He had only ₦100,000 in his room. No electoral material was discovered in his hotel room or car. It is part of a grand plan to scare our people and disenfranchise them. This is unfortunate and shameful in a democracy,” Bankole stated.
He further dissociated the PDP officer from the arrested INEC staff, insisting that the two incidents were unrelated.
The party therefore demanded the immediate release of its officer, warning that any attempt to suppress opposition voices would not be tolerated.
When contacted, the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Lanre Ogunlowo, confirmed the arrests but stressed that investigations were ongoing.
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Ogunlowo said:
“We are investigating the matter. That’s how much I can say for now. You may please call back later in the day for further information.”
The by-election in Ogun State is one of several being conducted nationwide, amid rising concerns about electoral malpractice, vote buying, and political intimidation.
This latest development comes just hours after security operatives in Kaduna arrested a suspected vote buyer with ₦25.9 million ahead of another by-election.
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