The Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) has announced that elections in the 18 local government areas and 203 wards of the state will be conducted on January 18, 2025.
This came barely a month after the election, which was earlier rescheduled to hold on July 13, 2024, was thereafter postponed indefinitely by the commission.
The Chairman of the commission, Dr Joseph Aremo, announced the new date at a Stakeholders’ meeting held at the Commission’s headquarters in Akure, the state capital, in Friday.
According to Dr Aremo, the elections were never cancelled but rescheduled due to the non-compliance of political parties with the electoral guidelines and processes.
Aremo explained that the postponement of the elections became imperative as the commission was tired of continuous rescheduling.
He assured the residents of the state of ODIEC’s readiness to conduct free, fair and credible elections, noting that the exercise would be transparent.
He urged the political parties that had conducted primaries before the postponement to forward the validated list of candidates to the commission.
He further outlined the continuation of activities for the conduct of the elections, noting that the completion of political parties primaries and validation of candidates will take place from November 25 to December 7, 2024,
He also said December 9, this year is the last day for the submission of forms for particulars of candidates and the list of candidates by political parties.
Aremo further explained that the substitution of candidates by political parties will occur from December 12 to December 13, while the collection and submission of nomination forms will commence from December 16 to December 18.
According to him, campaigns by political parties will kick off on December 23 and end at midnight on January 16, 2025.
The chairman added that the distribution of non-sensitive materials to the 18 local governments would take place from January 6 to January 10, 2025.
The Chairman of the Ondo State chapter of the Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, Olaoluwa Adesanya, expressed satisfaction with the ODIEC chairman’s presentation on the preparedness of the commission for the elections.
He promises that the political parties will cooperate with ODIEC to ensure a smooth conduct of the elections
