Parties submitted 22,689 polling agents for Ondo guber, says INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has revealed that only 15 political parties out of 18 participating in the Ondo State governorship election submitted details of their agents for polling and collation levels.

The Ondo State governorship election will be held on November 16, 2024.

The commission disclosed that while it expected a cumulative figure of 74,790 agents, only 24,148 were uploaded to its portal by political parties.

INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, in a statement issued on Friday, said three political parties have no agents at any level of polling or collation.

The statement read: “Following the closure of the portal for the upload of polling and collation agents for the Ondo State Governorship election, the Commission is pleased to publish the summary of submissions made by political parties.

“The portal opened on August 20, 2024, and automatically shut down at midnight on Monday, September 30, 2024, as indicated on item 9 on the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election released almost a year ago in September 2023.

“In Ondo State, there are 3,933 polling units and 222 collation centres, consisting of 203 ward centres, 18 Local Government centres, and the State collation centre in Akure.

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“A political party fielding candidates in the election is expected to nominate 4,155 agents. From the 18 parties participating in the election, the Commission expected a cumulative figure of 74,790 agents.

“However, only 24,148 were uploaded to the portal, made up of 22,689 polling, 1,249 ward, 196 Local Government, and 14 State collation agents. Put together, the 18 political parties nominated 32.3% of the expected number of agents.

“Three political parties have no agents at any level of polling or collation.

“A detailed breakdown of the submissions has been uploaded to our website and social media platforms for public information.”