Joel Osaigbovo Aluge, Reporting
Benin City, Edo State
Ahead of the forthcoming Edo and Ondo governorship elections, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, has urged security agencies to leverage the success of the previous election in both states.
The INEC chairman stated this at the meeting of the inter-agency consultative committee on election security in Abuja on Friday.
The Edo governorship poll is scheduled to place on September 21, 2024, and the Ondo governorship poll will be held on November 16, 2024.
Only 12 parties have uploaded the particulars of their candidates to the INEC portal with only two days left to the deadline ahead of the Edo poll.
Seventeen out of 19 parties have indicated interest in participating in the Ondo governorship election.
Yakubu said, “It is important to start security preparations very early. In particular, the number of personnel and other assets to be deployed to strategic locations should be determined and mobilised early enough.
“Let us replicate the successful conduct of the last governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states. In fact, working together, we should ensure that the 2024 governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states are an improvement on the success story of 2020.”
Yakubu stated that at the moment, Edo has 2,501,081 registered voters, 192 registration areas/wards, and 4,519 polling units while Ondo State has 1,991,344 registered voters, 203 registration areas/wards, and 3,933 polling units.
The representative of the National Security Adviser, Yahaya Hassan, promised a violence-free election in both states.