ALL eyes are on Ondo as voters in the southwest state head to the poll on Saturday, November 16, 2024, to elect their next governor.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), reports that 2,053,061 people have registered to vote. The list includes 58,708 new voters added during the ongoing voter registration drive.
According to the electoral umpire, 123 voters moved their registrations out of the state, while 3,132 voters moved theirs into it.
According to INEC, a total of 18 political parties have put candidates forward for the election.
The candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and incumbent governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, will be slugging it out with other notable candidates in the race for the highest seat in the Sunshine State.
Here are some of the key candidates in the election:
Lucky Aiyedatiwa (APC)
Following the death of Rotimi Akeredolu in December 2023, Aiyedatiwa, who was the deputy governor, then assumed the position of incumbent.
He is from Obe-Nla, in the Ilaje Local Government Area (LGA).
Agboola Ajayi (PDP)
Ajayi is a former deputy governor of the state. He hails from Kiribo town in the Ese Odo LGA.
He is lawyer.
Akingboye Benson Bamidele (SDP)
Bamidele is an engineer and entrepreneur and comes from Akure North LGA.
Sola Ebiseni (LP)
Ebiseni is a lawyer and politician. He was a member of the Student Union Government (SUG) while studying law at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is also from the Ilaje axis of the state.
Nejo Adeyemi (ADC)
Nejo is a lawyer, and he was a member of the team that defended Akeredolu during his trials.
Abbas Mimiko (ZLP)
He is the younger brother of a former governor of the state, Olusegun Mimiko and a psychiatrist.
Fact-checking claims at the gubernatorial debate
At a debate organised by Channels TV on Sunday, November 3, 2024, the two leading Ondo State gubernatorial candidates spoke about their plans for the state if elected in the off-season poll.
Areas covered by the debate include discussions on the state of the economy, security, education, infrastructure, health, and poverty eradication in the state.
Aiyedatiwa of the APC and Ajayi of the PDP were present at the debate. You can read ithe fact-chcks of some of their claims here
Candidates sign peace accord ahead of the election
The ICIR reported that governorship candidates on Friday, November 8, in Akure signed a peace accord ahead of the off-cycle governorship election.
They pledged to support a peaceful and credible electoral process in the election on November 16, 2024.
The chairman of the National Peace Committee (NPC), Abdulsalam Abubakar, oversaw the signing and emphasised the accord’s importance in promoting peace and democracy.
Abubakar urged party leaders and candidates to accept the election outcome, provided it is deemed free, fair, and credible.
Tight security expected as IGP, and other security agencies deploy 43,157 operatives
The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbedokun, said on Saturday, November 9, that a total of 43,157 security personnel, comprising all security agencies, will be available for the poll.
According to him, the police will be deploying 34,757 personnel to polling units, wards, and local government collation centres across the state.
Earlier in the week, the police had placed the figure at 22,239 officers. It was not immediately clear why the figure was increased.
Egbetokun said the police would use their personnel and material resources to safeguard the state’s 18 LGAs, 203 Wards, and 3,933 voting units.
He added that the armed forces, intelligence security agencies, and other sister security agencies will supplement the numbers.
According to the police boss, sufficient preparations and procedures have been put in place to ensure the exercise’s success.
No place for quasi-security groups in the the ondo election
The IGP has announced a ban on quasi-security groups such as the vigilante corps and Amotekun, stressing that election security is the sole responsibility of the police and authorised federal agencies.
According to the statement, only the NPC and federal security bodies under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) are empowered to ensure safety during the election.
Furthermore, the IGP reaffirmed the established guidelines governing election security management in Nigeria, stressing that no quasi-security organization, including state-backed groups like the vigilante corps or Amotekun, will be permitted to participate in the election process.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance