A total of 2,249,780 (two million, two hundred and forty nine thousand, seven hundred and eighty) registered voters will participate in the governorship election set to hold in Edo State on Saturday.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) disclosed on Tuesday that the figure is the number of registered voters who have collected their Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) ahead of the governorship election.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Olumide Akpata, Monday Okpebholo and Asue Ighodalo are the governorship candidates of the frontline political parties set to participate in the electoral contest and would have their fate decided by the 2,249,780 voters.
While Akpata is the governorship candidate of the Labour Party, Okpebholo is the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Ighodalo represents the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Giving a breakdown of the registered voters who have collected their PVCs, Mr Sam Olumekun, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, disclosed that the 2,249,780 figure represents 85.57% of the 2,629,025 total registered voters in the State.
Olumekun stated that 379,245 PVCs, representing 14.43 per cent, were uncollected as of Monday September 16, at the end of the extended period for PVC collection in the State.
He said that consequently, INEC was making available data on PVC collection on Polling Unit basis in Edo ahead of the governorship election to hold on Saturday, September 21.
“There are 4,519 Polling Units in the State. Voting will take place in each unit. The detailed breakdown of the number of PVCs collected, as well as the number uncollected in each unit, has been uploaded to our website for guidance of political parties, candidates and public information,” Olumekun said.
He advised persons interested in viewing the 128-page document to visit the commission’s website: https://inecnigeria.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/PU-LEVEL-FOR-PVC-COLLECTED-FOR-2024-EDO-GOVERVORSHIP-ELECTION.pdf.
TNG reports seventeen (17) political parties are fielding candidates in the election. Sixteen (16) are male while one (1) is female. Some of the political parties include Action Alliance (AA), African Democratic Congress (ADC), African Action Congress (AAC), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Boot Party (BP) and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).