INEC publishes final list of candidates for Ondo guber election

Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ajayi Agboola of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Olorunfemi Ayodele of the Labour Party (LP), and Akingboye Benson of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) are among the 17 governorship candidates who have made the final list for the November 16 elections.

The list of 17 candidates and their deputies included no women, and the African Democratic Congress candidate is the only one with a disability, with 35-year-old Adegoke Paul of the Youth Party (YP) being the youngest contender.

A statement by the Commission on Thursday said public campaign for the election would officially open on Wednesday, July 19, 2204 and close 24 hours before the elections.

A statement signed by National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun said 17 political parties will be contesting the election scheduled for November 16.

The statement said that while none of the 17 political parties nominated a woman for the election, the African Democratic Congress nominated a person with disability for the poll.

The statement reads: “The Commission is pleased to announce the publication of the final list of candidates for the Ondo State Governorship Election. Following the initial primaries, the Commission published the personal particulars of the Governorship candidates and their running mates in the State and Local Government offices.

“In line with the provision of Section 33 of the Electoral Act 2022, two (2) political parties conducted fresh primaries to replace their earlier nominated candidates and their running mates by the deadline of 10th June 2024.

“The parties are the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) while five (5) parties replaced their running mates only. They are the African Action Congress (AAC), the Action Democratic Party (ADP), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).

“Overall, seventeen (17) political parties are fielding candidates for the election. No political party has nominated a female candidate while one (1) candidate nominated by the African Democratic Congress (ADC) is a person with disability (a paraplegic). The final list also gives the breakdown of the candidates by age and academic qualifications.

“The list has been published at our office in Akure and also uploaded to our website and social media platforms for public information.

“With the publication of the final list of candidates, the next activity is electioneering campaign.