Some aides of Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, and chieftains of the Accord Party have defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC, preparatory for August 15 governorship election in the state.

The defectors announced their defection on Tuesday.

Those who joined the APC are the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Market Affairs, Mr. Moyoade Lukman, and the Senior Special Assistant in the Governor’s Office, Mr. Azeez Kazeem.

Others include Accord Party House of Representatives aspirant for Ife Federal Constituency, Dr. Leye Olagbaju; the party’s youth leader in Ife Central Local Government Area, Asamo Gbenga; and Mr. Ojuolape Olagbaju.

Speaking with journalists at Ileri-Oluwa House in Osogbo, Dr. Olagbaju said his decision to join the APC was based on his conviction that APC governorship candidate, Mr. Bola Oyebamiji, possesses the capacity to drive the growth and development of Osun State.

“We will deploy the political structures we have built over the years to support the ambition of Mr. Bola Oyebamiji and, by the grace of God, ensure his victory in the August 15 election. He is capable and possesses the qualities of a prepared leader,” he said.

Also speaking, Lukman said his return to the APC was a homecoming to the progressive political family, adding that his experiences outside the fold influenced his decision.

Responding, the Director-General of the APC Campaign Council, Mr. Wole Oke, welcomed the defectors and assured them of equal opportunities within the party.

According to him, the APC’s primary focus remains securing victory in the forthcoming governorship election.

Oke further claimed that more aides of Governor Adeleke were preparing to join the APC and that the party would make further announcements at the appropriate time.

As part of preparations for the forthcoming August 15 Osun governorship election, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has charged its staff to perform optimally throughout the electoral cycle.

The Osun INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mrs Oluwatoyin Babalola, gave this charge while speaking at the commencement of a two-day capacity-building workshop for Electoral Officers and Assistant Electoral Officers in Osun State on Tuesday.

Babalola said the exercise was designed to equip participants with the knowledge and skills required to discharge their responsibilities effectively before, during and after elections.

According to Babalola, “The expected outcome of the workshop is to ensure and build the capacity of Electoral Officers and Assistant Electoral Officers ahead of the election. The commission expects them to perform effectively before, during and after the polls.”

She explained that participants would be trained on pre-election activities, including the recruitment of ad hoc staff and logistics management.

“We are also training them on recruitment and the use of INEC processes for the recruitment of ad hoc staff, as well as logistics, which has to do with the distribution of personnel and materials for the election,” she stated.

The Osun INEC boss said election management would also feature prominently in the training programme, with emphasis on result management and strategies for addressing challenges that may arise during the electoral process.

“We are also training them on election management. We are going to go into a lot of detail about result management and addressing challenges,” Babalola said.

She disclosed that the workshop would cover communication management during elections, as well as the monitoring of electoral activities to ensure the smooth conduct of the polls.

Sessions on technology and the use of various technological tools in elections have also been included in the programme.

Babalola described the workshop as an in-house exercise ahead of a broader technical training planned by the commission, saying it would provide participants with sufficient grounding in election administration before the commencement of the technical sessions.

“So these are all the areas and, at the end of it, we are going to do a technical session because this workshop is like an in-house workshop ahead of the training session that the Commission is planning, so that by the time we have our technical training, they would have enough knowledge of election administration,” she said.

She expressed confidence that the participants would apply the knowledge acquired during the workshop in the discharge of their duties.

“I also expect them to carry out their duties the way they should be carried out before, during and after the election. We expect them to know what they are doing and perform very well,” Babalola added.

Participants at the workshop include Heads of Departments, Electoral Officers, Assistant Electoral Officers and Heads of Units.

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Nentawe Yilwatda, has expressed his admiration for the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike’s work rate, while wondering when he sleeps.

Yilwatda, who said he’s jealous that Wike is in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, wished he could cause the Minister to defect to the APC.

He spoke during the flag-off of construction of Collector Road CO1 from Nile University area to Ring Road III, Extension of Body of Benchers road.

The road flagged off was part of projects to mark President Bola Tinubu’s third anniversary in office and he was represented by Yilwatda.

However, Yilwatda said: “The workaholic, every working, and tireless Minister, and I don’t know when you sleep.

“The Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike, you know that I’m jealous that you are in the PDP, I wish I could corner you and bring you to APC.

“But I’m happy that PDP borrowed you to us in 2023 and I saw your letter then to the National Working Committee of PDP borrowing you to us.

“I don’t know that it would lead to such a remark feat by you that what APC can do some of the PDP members can also do it.”