The Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) has again rescheduled the local government election in the state to January 18, 2025.
The new date was announced by the ODIEC chairman, Joseph Aremo, after during a stakeholders’ meeting held on Friday, in Akure, the state capital.
The state electoral body had shifted the election from December 16, 2023, to February 17, 2024.
The election could not hold, and it was later postponed to July 13, 2024, before it was canceled and finally postponed indefinitely.
Announcing the new date on Friday, Mr Aremo explained that the election was never cancelled but was rescheduled due to the non-compliance of political parties with the electoral guidelines and processes.
He noted that the electoral body had been postponing the poll scheduled to hold in the 18 LGAs and 302 wards of the state because the commission was tired of rescheduling the exercise.
The electoral umpire, however, assured the eligible voters of the commission’s readiness to conduct a free, fair, and credible election, noted that the exercise would be transparent, and whoever wins would be declared the winner.
Mr Aremo also outlined the continuation of activities for the conduct of the elections, pointing out that the completion of political parties primaries and validation of candidates would take place from November 25 to December 7, 2024.
He also added that by December 9, 2024, it would be the last day for the submission of forms for particulars of candidates and the list of candidates by political parties.
According to him, 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.
“Campaigns by political parties will kick off on December 23 and end at midnight of January 16, 2025,” he said.
He asked the political parties that had conducted primaries before the postponement to forward the validated list of candidates to the commission.
Olaoluwa Adesanya, state chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, Olaoluwa Adesanya, expressed satisfaction with the preparedness of the commission for the local government election.(NAN)
