The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that it will ensure a perfect election during the forthcoming off-cycle November 16 governorship poll in Ondo State.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Oluwatoyin Babalola, while assuring the people of the state of the electoral body’s determination to ensure a flawless exercise, at the weekend, said that factors that could undermine the poll had been identified.

The REC, who revealed that non-sensitive materials had been received and deployed to the 18 councils of the state, said that Registration Area Technical Support Staff (RATECH) would be drafted to all Registration Areas (RAs) to provide technical assistance in case of any issue with the functioning of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) that will be deployed across the 3,933 polling units in the state.

Besides, she said that trouble spots had been identified by the commission, stressing that the menace of voter trading would be severely dealt with, particularly with the assurances given by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC).

MEANWHILE, a leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Odigbo Local Council of Ondo State, Yusuf Abdulateef, who recently defected to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has said that the prevailing hardship under the ruling party informed his decision to defect.

Abdulateef, who was appointed the Chairman (Mobilisation) of PDP in Ondo South Senatorial District of the state after his defection, said that Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa had attempted to dissuade him from leaving the APC, but the persistent pleas of his followers ultimately led him to make the move.

According to him, farmers in Odigbo communities were unhappy with the APC-led administration due to how their farmlands were allegedly grabbed and sold at will by the government.

The former APC chieftain, who anchored the campaign drive of Jimoh Ibrahim for the Senate in Ondo South Senatorial District, which the APC won, said: “I want to thank Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa for calling me and which I honoured.

“On meeting with the governor, he asked me if it was true that I left APC, and I answered in the affirmative. I told him that I decided due to what was happening in the land, particularly the hardship. People are hungry and lamenting that the APC government brought nothing but pain to them.”