Dates for the governorship elections in Edo and Ondo States in 2024 have been announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
On September 21, 2024, Edo State will have its governorship election; Ondo State will hold its election on Saturday, November 16, 2024.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Sam Olumekun, National Commissioner of INEC and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, stated that the terms of the incumbent governors of the states of Edo and Ondo will expire on November 11, 2024, and February 23, 2025, respectively.
According to the Commission, elections for the aforementioned positions must take place no earlier than 150 days and no later than 30 days before the tenure of the outgoing occupant of the positions expires, in accordance with Section 178(2) of the Constitution.
Olumekun said,
“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. Similarly, 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.
“The governorship election will hold on Saturday 21st September 2024.”
According to the timetable and schedule of events for the governorship elections in Edo State, party primaries will take place from February 1 through February 24, 2024, and the list of candidates to be nominated must be submitted online starting on March 4 at 9.00 am and ending on March 24 at 6:00 pm.
The Commission highlighted that the full list of candidates will be released on April 23, 2024, and that political parties will begin publicly campaigning on April 24, 2024, and do so until September 18, 2024, or 24 hours before election day.
He stated that party primaries for Ondo State will take place from April 6 through April 27, 2024, and that the list of candidates to be nominated would be submitted online beginning on April 29, 2024, at 9.00 am, and ending on May 20, 2024, at 6:00 pm.
The national commissioner also stated that the final candidate list will be released on June 18, 2024, and that political parties would begin their public campaigning on June 19, 2024, and complete it on November 14, 2024, 24 hours before election day.
The Commission declared that it has posted a thorough schedule of events and timetable for the two elections on its website and on social media.
The Commission pleaded with political parties and candidates to take note of the events on the schedule and adhere to it strictly.