The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Monday, April 22, published the final list of candidates for the Edo state governorship election.

This update was provided in a statement signed by Sam Olumekun, the national commissioner and chairman of INEC’s information and voter education committee.

The Edo state governorship election is scheduled to be held on Saturday, September 21, 2024.

The incumbent governor, Godwin Obaseki, is ineligible to contest in the poll.

With the publication of the final list of candidates for the Edo gubernatorial election, the next activity is the electionering.

INEC’s statement partly reads: “Overall, 17 political parties are fielding candidates in the election. 16 are male while one (1) is female.

“The final list, which also gives the breakdown of the candidates by age, academic qualifications and disability, has been published at our office in Edo State and also uploaded to our website and social media platforms for public information.”

..Aspirants Fault Results

The governor of Ondo State Lucky Aiyedatiwa has been declared the winner of the APC ward primary and the candidate of the party in the coming governorship election in the state

Aiyedatiwa amassed a total of 48,569 votes in the primaries while fellow contender, Mayowa Akinfolarin, polled 15,343 votes, with Olusola Oke coming in third position with 14,865 votes.

He was declared the winner by the Chairman of the Governorship Primary Election Committee and Governor of Kogi State, Ahmed Ododo, in the early hours of Monday, who also noted that the electoral process went ”smoothly” with little skirmishes recorded.

”I can confirm that the direct mode of primary election adopted in the 2024 Ondo state governorship primary elections held in all 203 electoral wards in all the 18 LGAs in Ondo state,” Ododo said while announcing the winner.

The Ondo state governor coasted to victory in 16 of the 18 LGAs losing out on Ilaje LGA to third-placed Oke

Incidents of violence marred the election in Ifedore leading to cancellation of results.

The primary which was held on Saturday saw several of the contestants alleging the elections didn’t take place anywhere


One such Folakemi Omogoroye, a female aspirant described the process as a “complete rape on democracy.” calling for the cancellation

Omogoroye also lamented the absence of election officials and voting materials at voting centres, saying her supporters could not exercise their right to vote.

“I am not going to accept it, and now, I am calling for cancellation and if this is not done, maybe we’ll meet in the court,” she said while threatening legal action if her demand for a fresh and transparent election were not met

Equally, disgruntled party faithful took to the streets of Akure to demand the annulment of the exercise and the removal of Ododo as the committee’s chair.

The protesters took their dissatisfaction to the APC state secretariat in Akure alleging irregularities in the conduct of the ward primaries across the 203 wards of the state.

They described the process as a daylight robbery and urged the national secretariat of the APC not to allow the state to be embroiled in crisis.

One of the protesters claimed no ward primaries were held, insisting that the guidelines given by the national secretariat of the party were not followed as the committee did not distribute materials to any wards.

The party members warned of likely consequences if an unpopular candidate is imposed on them as it could affect the chances of the party in the governorship election

Some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akure, the Ondo State capital, took to the streets on Sunday to protest what they termed irregularities and biased conduct of the ward primaries across the state on Saturday.

The ward primaries meant to produce the governorship candidate of the party for the November 16, 2024 governorship election in the state has been marred with non-availability of election materials.

The protesters called for the cancellation of the ward primaries.

The protesters stormed the APC state secretariat in Akure to display their displeasure to the alleged irregularities in the conduct of the ward primaries across the 203 wards of the state.

Most of them are supporters of one of the aspirants, Olushola Oke, and they carried different placards calling on the national secretariat to remove the chairman of the primary election committee and Kogi State Governor, Usman Ododo.

They described the process as a daylight robbery and urged the national secretariat of the APC not to allow the state to be embroiled in crisis.

One of the protesters claimed no ward primaries were held, insisting that the guidelines given by the national secretariat of the party were not followed as the committee did not distribute materials to any wards.

The party members warned of likely consequences if an unpopular candidate is imposed on them as it could affect the chances of the party in the governorship election.