The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that a total of 177,914 new voters have been registered for the upcoming governorship elections in Edo and Ondo States.
According to a statement from Sam Olumekun, the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Edo State has 119,206 new voters, while Ondo State has 58,708.
Olumekun remarked, “Nigerians may recall that in our Press Statement on Tuesday 11th June 2024, we released the preliminary figures of newly registered voters for the forthcoming Edo and Ondo State Governorship elections before the period for claims and objections, followed by the cleaning up of the data using the Automated Biometric Identification System. These processes have now been concluded.”
He added, “The number of new voters for Edo State is 119,206 and 58,708 for Ondo State.”
The commission noted that these figures do not include 8,847 applications for voter transfers into Edo State and 3,132 into Ondo State from other parts of the country. Additionally, applications for transfers within the two states have already been integrated into the voter register.
“These figures do not include the 8,847 applications for transfer into Edo State and the 3,132 into Ondo State from other States of the Federation. Similarly, they do not include applications for transfer within the two States because they are already captured on the register of voters. The figures of the new voters and inter-state transfers are being integrated into the existing register,” the statement explained.
INEC will release the comprehensive and final voter register for both states in the coming days. “In the next few days, the Commission will release the comprehensive and final register of voters to be used for the 2024 Governorship elections for each of the two States,” Olumekun confirmed.
The Edo election is scheduled for September 21, 2024, while the Ondo election will take place on November 16, 2024.