INEC announce deadline for campaign activities in Edo, Ondo

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced the deadline for campaign activities by political parties for the Edo and Ondo State governorship elections.

INEC chairman Mahmood Yakubu made this announcement on Monday during a consultative meeting with political party leaders ahead of the state governorship elections.

The Edo State Governorship election will be held in the next four months on Saturday, September 21, 2024, while the Ondo Governorship election will be held in the next six months on Saturday, November 16, 2024.

Yakubu said the campaign activities, which commenced on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, will conclude at midnight on Thursday, September 19, 2024, in compliance with legal provisions.

INEC, according to him, has decided to resume the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in the two states to enable eligible citizens who are not registered voters to do so.

Yakubu added that those who are registered voters also have the opportunity to transfer their registration from other states of the federation to Edo and Ondo States or from one location to another within the two states.

“Let me reiterate that the CVR is only open to new registrants and those who seek to transfer their registration.”

For Edo State, the INEC chairman urges political parties to strictly adhere to the deadline for uploading the list of polling and collation agents to the dedicated portal.

Doing so will enable the Commission to produce and deliver the identity cards in good time for the expected 76,823 polling unit agents and 3,587 ward, local government and state collation agents for the 17 political parties participating in the election, Yakubu noted.

For Ondo State, he urged political parties to have one week until the deadline for the nomination of candidates, which is 6 pm on Monday, May 20, when the portal automatically shuts down.

“I urge you to adhere strictly to the deadline. Political parties have been given 23 days (over three weeks) from the end of primaries to prepare and submit the list of only two candidates (a government candidate and a running mate) to the Commission. There will be no extension of time.”