•The major contestants: Asue Ighodalo (PDP), Monday Okpebholo (APC) and Olumide Akpata (LP)
Today, Saturday, September 21, 2024, the people of Edo State in South-South Nigeria will elect a new governor to succeed the incumbent, Godwin Obaseki, whose constitutional eight-year double terms will end on November 12, 2024.
Edo is one of the eight states where governorship elections are held off-season due to litigations and court judgements, reports Channels TV.
Others are Anambra, Bayelsa, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi, Osun and Ondo.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared its readiness to conduct the election and provide a level playing field for all the 17 candidates vying for the coveted office.
Here are some quick facts about the election:
-The total number of registered voters in Edo State is 2,629,025.
– Out of this figure, 2,249,780 (85.57%) have collected their Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs).
– 379,245 (14.43%) of the PVCs are uncollected.
– There are 4,519 Polling Units in the state and voting will take place in each unit.
– The political temperature in the state has been turbocharged in the last year with many cases of electoral violence recorded. Security agencies like the police have deployed thousands of officers to ensure a violent-free poll.
– Though 17 candidates are jostling for the office, analysts have described the forthcoming poll as a three-horse race involving Asue Ighodalo of the People Democratic Party (PDP), Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP).
– Akpata is a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and he is solidly supported by 2023 LP presidential candidate, Peter Obi, who in about a year galvanised over six million votes in 2023 riding on the crest of the ‘Obidient’ movement.
– Ighodalo, former Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG); secured the endorsement of the incumbent governor, Obaseki, who shunned his deputy and party man, Philip Shaibu.
– Shaibu and former Governor Adams Oshiomhole have pledged their support for Okpebholo.
