In advance of the next Edo and Ondo State governorship elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission has released the finalized voter registration data.
After everything was said and done, Edo State had gained 119,206 new voters, while Ondo State had gained 58,708. In a news release released on Monday, Sam Olumekun, the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, declared.
Utilizing the Automated Biometric Identification System, INEC has finished the data verification procedure subsequent to the initial release of preliminary numbers on June 11, 2024.
“Nigerians may recall that in our Press Statement on Tuesday 11th June 2024, we released the preliminary figures of newly registered voters for the forthcoming Edo and Ondo State Governorship elections before the period for claims and objections, followed by the cleaning up of the data using the Automated Biometric Identification System. These processes have now been concluded.
“The number of new voters for Edo State is 119,206 and 58,708 for Ondo State,” Olumekun noted.
The commission clarified, however, that the numbers did not include the 8,847 voter transfer petitions from outside of Edo State and the 3,132 applications from outside of Ondo State.
Applications for transfers within the states of Edo and Ondo, in addition to these new registrations, have already been incorporated into the voter register.
“These figures do not include the 8,847 applications for transfer into Edo State and the 3,132 into Ondo State from other States of the Federation.
“Similarly, they do not include applications for transfer within the two States because they are already captured on the register of voters.
“The figures of the new voters and inter-state transfers are being integrated into the existing register,” the statement read in part.
In the upcoming days, INEC will make available the complete and official voter registration for both states.
He said, “The comprehensive and final voter registration to be used for the 2024 Governorship elections for each of the two States will be released by the Commission in the coming days.”
The national commissioner further stated that thorough evaluations of the new voters, broken down by local government districts, gender, age, employment, and status of disability, have been posted to INEC’s website and social media channels for public transparency.
September 21, 2024, is when the Edo election is scheduled to occur. Candidates for the election are being presented by seventeen political parties.
November 16, 2024, is the planned date of the Ondo election. Notably, among the contenders for governorships, none of the seventeen political parties fielded a female candidate.
