Ahead of the August 15, 2026 governorship election in Osun State, the re-election campaign council of Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state of losing focus. In a statement released on Thursday, Pelumi Olajengbesi, the spokesman for the Imole Campaign Council (TICC), asserted that the APC has failed to engage in issue-based campaigning. Instead, he claimed the party has resorted to what he described as fabricated stories of imaginary arrests, cheap blackmail, and empty intimidation theatrics.
Olajengbesi criticizes APC tactics
Olajengbesi characterized the attempts by the Osun APC to involve anti-corruption agencies in their campaign as laughable and desperate. He specifically referenced petitions filed against him by APC members with government agencies, stating that only those who are intellectually shallow and morally bankrupt would display such desperation by using the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as a campaign tool. He emphasized that the EFCC is a government institution performing its lawful duties, no different from the Road Safety Corps or the Fire Service.
“It is only political jesters who have completely lost direction and hope that will turn ‘EFCC is coming’ into a campaign slogan,” Olajengbesi said. He contrasted the focus of the Governor Adeleke Reelection Campaign Council on issue-based campaigning with the APC’s alleged focus on rumor mongering, fabricated arrest stories, and intimidation theatrics aimed at creating panic within the government and among supporters of Governor Ademola Adeleke.
Osun people are politically conscious
Olajengbesi stressed that the people of Osun State are politically conscious and cannot be intimidated by empty propaganda or abuse of federal connections. He noted that it is public knowledge that the EFCC is a federal government agency and that former Governor Gboyega Oyetola, who was rejected at the polls due to incompetence and poor leadership, now openly boasts about federal influence as if public institutions exist for personal political battles and vendettas.
“The earlier the Osun APC understands that elections cannot be won through blackmail and that the EFCC will not vote on Election Day, the better for them. Osun people have moved beyond fear politics. They are interested in governance, performance, infrastructure, workers’ welfare, education, healthcare, and economic growth, all of which Governor Ademola Adeleke has continued to deliver responsibly and visibly,” Olajengbesi added.
He concluded by stating that Governor Adeleke and the good people of Osun State are not perturbed by the empty noise of a rejected political party. He suggested that if anyone should be in EFCC custody, it is Oyetola, who has yet to explain the management of a $20 million Primary Healthcare grant under his administration, or Wole Oke, the APC Campaign Director General, who is already under scrutiny for extortion and bribery-related matters in the National Assembly.
