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As the Edo and Ondo election draws near, the Independent National Electoral Commission has released the final voter register for the upcoming governorship elections in both states.
The decision is sequence to a meeting held by the commission on Tuesday, as contained in a statement signed by the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun.
The Edo State governorship election is scheduled for September 21, 2024, while the exercise will be held in Ondo State on November 16, 2024.
The new register incorporates new voters from the recent Continuous Voter Registration and includes successful applicants for transfers from other states to Edo and Ondo states.
The statement noted that “Edo State now has 2,629,025 registered voters. Among these, 1,370,061 are male, representing 52.11 per cent, while 1,258,964 are female, making up 47.89 per cent. Youths aged 18 to 35 accounted for 983,133 voters, which is 37.4 per cent.
“The middle-aged group, aged 36 to 49, comprised 914,806 individuals, collectively constituting 72.2 per cent of the registered voters. 868,764 students constitute the majority of voters or 33.05 per cent.
Additionally, there are 4,199 Persons with Disabilities, representing 0.16 per cent of the voters in the state.
“The new register represents a 4.9 per cent increase over the 2023 general election figure of 2,501,081.”
In Ondo State, the statement said, “The state now has 2,053,061 registered voters. Of these, 1,034,006 are male (50.36 per cent), and 1,018,964 are female (49.64 per cent).
“Youths aged 18 to 35 years make up 726,944 voters (35.41 per cent), while the middle-aged group consists of 721,982 individuals (35.17 per cent). Together, they represent 70.57 per cent of the registered voters in the state.
“In terms of occupation, 694,938 students constitute the majority of voters (33.85 per cent). There are 1,782 (0.09 per cent) PWDs.
“The new register represents a 3.0 per cent increase over the 2023 general election figure of 1,191,344.”
Olumekun noted that INEC had uploaded a detailed breakdown of the voter register by Local Government Areas, gender, age, occupation, and disability to its website and social media platforms for public access.
He further stated that the commission would release the timetable for the collection of Permanent Voter Cards for all categories of voters in both states, including new registrants, those who applied for transfers, replacements, and uncollected cards from previous registrations.
