Ahead of the August 15, 2026 governorship poll in Osun State, the re-election campaign council of Governor Ademola Adeleke of Accord Party says the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state has failed to focus on issue-based campaign but instead occupied itself with “fabricated stories of imaginary arrests, cheap blackmail and empty intimidation theatrics”.

In a statement on Thursday, Pelumi Olajengbesi, the spokesman for the Imole Campaign Council (TICC), described as laughable, desperate attempts by the Osun APC to turn anti-corruption agencies into a campaign department through infantile propaganda, and false alarms.

Olajengbesi referenced petitions written against him by members of the Osun APC in the state to government agencies, saying, “only people who are intellectually shallow and morally bankrupt will display their desperation using the EFCC, as though the EFCC is not a government institution doing its lawful job within the confines of the law”.

“The EFCC is not different from Road Safety or Fire Service. They are public institutions performing public responsibilities. It is only political jesters who have completely lost direction and hope that will turn ‘EFCC is coming’ into a campaign slogan,” he said.

Olajengbesi said while the Governor Adeleke Reelection Campaign Council has its core focus on issue-based campaign, the APC and its candidate Bola Oyebamiji now “focus on rumour mongering, fabricated stories of imaginary arrests, and empty intimidation theatrics, believing this will create panic within the government and among supporters of Governor Ademola Adeleke”.

He said, “The people of Osun State are politically conscious and cannot be intimidated by empty propaganda or abuse of federal connections. It is public knowledge that the EFCC is a Federal Government agency, and it is also no secret that former Governor Gboyega Oyetola, who was rejected at the polls because of glaring incompetence and underwhelming leadership, now boasts openly about federal influence as though 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.

“Governor Ademola Adeleke and the good people of Osun State are not perturbed by the empty noise of a rejected political party in the state.

“Indeed, if there are individuals who should be in EFCC custody, it is Oyetola, who is yet to provide explanations over the management of the Twenty Million United States Dollars Primary Healthcare grant under his administration, or Wole Oke, the APC Campaign Director General, who is already in the news over extortion and bribery-related matters in the National Assembly.”