From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has finally confirmed that a total number of 4.682 million voters will participate in the Edo and Ondo States off-cycle governorship elections scheduled for September and November this year respectively.
INEC, took the final decision of the number of voters for the governorship elections at the commission’s regular weekly meetings held in Abuja on Tuesday.
In a statement by National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, made available to newsmen, the commission explained that 2,629,025 registered voters will exercise their franchise for the Edo poll while 2,053,061 voters will decide the winner in Ondo State.
Giving further breakdown of distribution of the registered voters, the electoral umpire noted in the statement that of Edo figure, 1,370,061 (52.11 per cent) are male while 1,258,964 (47.89 per cent) are female.
It also noted that the youths between the ages of 18 – 35 years account for 983,133 (37.4 per cent), followed by 914,806 middle aged (36 – 49) persons, stressing that all together, they constitute 1,897,939 (72.2 per cent) of registered voters in the State.
The statement read: “The commission met today, and approved the final register of voters for the Edo and Ondo governorship elections. The register integrated new voters from the recent Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) as well as the figures of successful applicants for transfer from other States of the Federation to the two States.
“The State now has 2,629,025 registered voters. Of this figure, 1,370,061 (52.11 per cent) are male while 1,258,964 (47.89 per cent) are female. Youths (18 – 35 years) account for 983,133 (37.4 per cent), followed by 914,806 middle aged (36 – 49) persons. Together, they constitute 1,897,939 (72.2 per cent) of registered voters in the State.
“In terms of occupation, 868,764 students constitute the majority of voters (33.05 per cent). There are 4,199 (0.16 per cent) Persons with Disability (PWDs). The new register represents 4.9 per cent increase over the 2023 General Election figure of 2,501,081,” the commission explained in the statement.
On the breakdown for the Ondo State registered voters, the electoral umpire noted: “The State now has 2,053,061 registered voters. Of this figure, 1,034,006 (50.36 per cent) are male while 1,034,964 (47.89 per cent) are female. Youths (18 – 35 years) account for 726,944 (35.41 per cent), followed by 721,982 (35.17 per cent) middle aged (36 – 49) persons.”
“Together, they constitute 1,448,926 (70.57 per cent) of 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) Persons with Disability (PWDs). The new register represents a 3.0 per cent increase over the 2023 General Election figure of 1,191,344.”
The commission further noted that the detailed breakdown of the register for each State by Local Government Areas, gender, age, occupation and disability, referred stakeholders to the uploaded comprehensive information to its website and social media platforms.
On the next step, INEC’s leadership noted that; “in the next few days, the commission will release the timetable for the collection of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) for the two States for all categories of voters including new registrants from the last CVR, voters that applied for transfers, replacements and uncollected cards from previous registrations.”
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