LG elections, Ondo postpones till 2025

The 18 local government areas and 203 wards of the state will hold local government elections on January 18, 2025, according to a formal announcement made by the Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC). At a stakeholders’ meeting at the commission’s Akure offices, Dr. Joseph Aremo, the chairman of the ODIEC, disclosed this revised date.

The elections were postponed indefinitely after being rescheduled for July 13, 2024, because political parties did not follow the electoral requirements. Dr. Aremo made it clear that the polls were postponed rather than cancelled in order to guarantee that the required procedures were followed.

He reassured citizens of Ondo State that the Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) is dedicated to holding free, fair, and credible elections. If political parties had held primaries prior to the postponement, he urged them to submit verified lists of candidates. In addition, Dr. Aremo listed the important dates that will transpire before the elections, such as the conclusion of the party primaries and candidate validation on November 25 to December 7, 2024, and the deadline for submitting candidate forms on December 9, 2024.

Political parties will conduct their campaigns from December 23, 2024, to January 16, 2025. Local governments will receive non-sensitive materials between January 6 and January 10, 2025.

In order to guarantee a seamless election process, Olaoluwa Adesanya, the chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) chapter in Ondo State, expressed confidence in the ODIEC’s preparations and promised political parties’ assistance.