INEC fixes dates for Edo, Ondo gov’ship polls

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed dates in 2024 for the off-cycle governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states.

National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC) of INEC, Sam Olumekun, said on Tuesday in Abuja that the tenure of the governors of Edo and Ondo states would end on November 11, 2024 and February 23, 2025 respectively.

According to him, while the governorship election will hold on Saturday, September 21, 2024 in Edo State, it will hold on Saturday, November 16, 2024 in Ondo State.

“As provided in Section 178 (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), election into the said offices shall hold not earlier than 150 days and not later than 30 days before the expiration of the tenure of the last holder of the office.

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“The latest date for election to the office of Governor, Edo State, is 12th October 2024 while that of Ondo State is 24th January 2025.

“Similiarly, Section 28(1) of the Electoral Act, 2022 requires the commission to publish Notice for the Election not later than 360 days before the date of the election,” Olumekun said.

For Edo State, the commission said the party primaries will hold from February 1-24, 2024 while the submission of the list of nominated candidates via the online portal will start at 9.00am on March 4, 2024 and close at 6.00pm on March 24, 2024.

“The final list of candidates will be published on 23rd April 2024 while campaign in public by political parties commences on 24th April 2024 and ends 24 hours prior to election day on 19th September 2024,” he said.

For Ondo State, Olumekun said that the party primaries will hold from April 6-27, 2024 while the submission of the list of nominated candidates via the online portal will start at 9.00am on April 29, 2024 and close at 6.00pm on May 20, 2024.

He said, “The final list of candidates will be published on 18th June 2024 while campaign in public by political parties commences on 19th June 2024 and ends 24 hours prior to election day on 14th November 2024.”

He also said that the detailed timetable and schedule of activities for the two elections had been uploaded to the INEC’s website and social media platforms.

He said that by the notice as required by both the Constitution and the Electoral Act, the commission appealed to political parties and candidates to note the activities in the timetable for strict compliance.