Twenty-seven days before the Ondo State off-cycle governorship election, residents expect the electoral process to be free, fair, and credible. The electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission, has committed to conducting a successful poll.

Off-cycle governorship elections in the country resulted from judicial decisions that removed elected governors after protracted legal tussles. In the case of Ondo State, Olusegun Mimiko of the Labour Party became the beneficiary of the judicial pronouncement as the court installed him as the elected governor in 2009, when he successfully challenged Olusegun Agagu’s earlier declaration as governor in Ondo State.

INEC Electoral Processes
The INEC issued notice for the election more than a year ago and has implemented the advertised timetable religiously. What the voters need to know about the elections is as follows:
Publication of the various collection centres for the PVCs for the governorship election. It followed this with the issuance of a register for the transfer and replacement of PVCs. The Commission also opened a register for new registrations especially those that recently attained the voting age.

Notice of Election
INEC showed its preparedness for the poll on September 27th, 2023, when it announced that the Ondo gubernatorial poll would be held on November 16th, 2024, in line with Section 178 (2) of the constitution, which stipulates that election into the said offices shall be held not earlier than 150 days and not later than 30 days before the expiration of the tenure of the last holder of the office.

Also, Section 28(1) of the Electoral Act, 2022, requires INEC to publish the Notice for the Election not later than 360 days before the date of the election.

Tracking the Timetable: Primary Elections by the Political Parties
The electoral commission opened the window for political parties to conduct primary elections, including the resolution of disputes arising from the primaries, from April 6-27, 2024, while they were also required to submit a list of nominated candidates via its online portal from April 29 to May 20, 2024.

On June 18th, 2024, the electoral commission published the final list of the candidates of seventeen political parties. Before the final publication, political parties had perfected their choices of candidacy in which some parties had another primary poll.

Monitoring the Campaigns
The publication of the final lists of the candidates paved the way for the political parties to begin their campaign which was supposed to start on June 19th, but all the parties did not begin their official campaigns until October 2024. They were, however, doing their ward and local campaigns and mobilisation of their supporters.

The political parties began to traverse the length and breadth of the state to convince the residents of the state to cast their ballots for them. According to the INEC guidelines, political parties are expected to end their campaign activities on November 14th, which is two days before the election.

Age and qualifications of the Candidates
The average age of the candidates in the election is 50 years. The oldest candidate in the contest is Ogunfeyimi Isaac Kolawole, of the APM who is 75 years old. The youngest is 35-year-old Adegoke Kehinde Paul who is 35 years old. His deputy is also 35 years old.

Most of the candidates presented their secondary school certificates for their qualification while a few also tendered their degree certificates, especially professionals like Lawyers and Engineers. A couple of them also tendered their master’s degrees.

Special Interests: Women and Physically Challenged
Two women are in the race as deputy governorship candidates. They are those of the ADP Mrs Moyosola Elizabeth Olorunmonu and SDP, Mrs Shekoni Susan Gbemisola who is 55 years old.
The governorship candidate of the ADC is reported on the INEC list of candidates as physically challenged (Crippled). He is 42 years old.

Continuous Voter Registration
In a statement issued on Monday, Sam Olumekun, the INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee revealed that the collection would take place at 221 wards and local government centers throughout the state.

The electoral commission declared on October 14th, 2024, that voters would begin collection of Permanent Voters’ Cards on Thursday, October 17th. The commission also disclosed that 89,777 new PVCs were printed from the most recent CVR, including 31,069 applications for transfers, updates, and replacements of lost or damaged PVCs, as well as 58,708 new voters.

INEC added that to make it easier to identify names and collection locations and ensure a smooth PVC collection process, the commission would also upload the complete collection register for new voters to its website.

INEC and Voter Education
As part of its responsibilities, the Independent National Electoral Commission has intensified educating and raising awareness among voters and relevant stakeholders about their roles in making the November 16th poll a success.

On October 7, INEC conducted a training for the Technical Workshop for Electoral Officers (EOs) and Assistant Electoral Officers Operations (AEO – EOps) on the Management of Electoral Training for the 2024 Ondo State Governorship Election. According to the commission, the training’s goal is for participants to master the processes and procedures for conducting elections, as well as demonstrate their ability to effectively and efficiently organise and manage key electoral activities.

On Monday, October 14th, the electoral commission held a three-day training for security personnel to “bring out the best and ignite a high level of professionalism in our security personnel in preparation for the Ondo Governorship Election scheduled for November 16th, 2024, thus ensuring free, fair, credible, and inclusive elections and democratic consolidation.”

On October 15th, the commission, through The Electoral Institute (TEI), hosted a roundtable discussion on how to increase voter participation and inclusivity in the 2024 Ondo state governorship election.

As the election preparations continue, the electoral commission is expected to engage more in voter education and trust-building programmes to increase voter participation and establish a credible electioneering process in the state.