Ondo Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of the All Progressives Congress, Ajayi Agboola of the People’s Democratic Party, Olorunfemi Ayodele of the Labour Party and Akingboye Benson of the Social Democratic Party have made the final list of the Independent National Electoral Commission as governorship candidates in the November 16 elections in the state.
They are among the 17 candidates that made the INEC final list.
But the list of the candidates and their deputies did not contain any woman while the African Democratic Congress candidate is the only one with disability with 35-year-old Adegoke Paul of Youth Party (YP) the youngest candidate.
INEC in a statement on Thursday said public campaign for the election would officially open on Wednesday, July 19, 2204 and close 24 hours before the elections.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, who signed the statement, said 17 political parties will be contesting the election scheduled for November 16.
It added that while none of the 17 political parties nominated a woman for the election, the African Democratic Congress nominated a person with disability for the poll.
The statement read, “The Commission is pleased to announce the publication of the final list of candidates for the Ondo State Governorship Election. Following the initial primaries, the Commission published the personal particulars of the Governorship candidates and their running mates in the State and Local Government offices.
“In line with the provision of Section 33 of the Electoral Act 2022, two (2) political parties conducted fresh primaries to replace their earlier nominated candidates and their running mates by the deadline of 10th June 2024.
“The parties are the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) while five (5) parties replaced their running mates only. They are the African Action Congress (AAC), the Action Democratic Party (ADP), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
“Overall, seventeen (17) political parties are fielding candidates for the election. No political party has nominated a female candidate while one (1) candidate nominated by the African Democratic Congress (ADC) is a person with disability (a paraplegic). The final list also gives the breakdown of the candidates by age and academic qualifications.
“The list has been published at our office in Akure and also uploaded to our website and social media platforms for public information.
“With the publication of the final list of candidates, the next activity is electioneering campaign.
“As provided by Section 94(1) of the Electoral Act 2022, campaign by Political Parties in public shall commence not earlier than 150 days before polling day and end 24 hours prior to that day.
“Therefore, Political Parties are now permitted to start campaign in public from Wednesday 19th June 2024 and end at midnight on Thursday 14th November 2024 as indicated in items 8 and 12 of the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election.
“As parties commence this critical phase of the election, the Commission once again reminds candidates, agents and their supporters of the provision of the law and the Commission’s guidelines governing such activity.
“For emphasis, parties shall conduct their campaigns with civility and decorum devoid of inciting language, violence, voter inducement and other infractions in accordance with the provisions of Section 92-97 of the Electoral Act 2022.
“The Ondo State Governorship Election is scheduled to hold on Saturday 16th November 2024”.
