On Tuesday, 14th May 2024, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) held its second Quarterly Consultative Meeting with civil society organisations (CSOs). At the meeting, the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, provided some insight into the preparations of the Commission for the Edo and Ondo States Governorship elections slated for 21st September and 16th November 2024, respectively.
Prof. Yakubu stated that the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise will commence on Monday, 27th May 2024 and end on Wednesday, 5th June 2024. The process is expected to take place across 397 registration centres in both States from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm daily, including weekends. He also stated that the CVR exercise will be physical only, as including online registration may not allow the Commission to meet up with the legal requirement to display copies of the Voters’ Register not later than 90 days before an election. He urged CSOs to mobilise voters in the States to register early. He also enjoined CSOs and other election observer groups to submit applications for election observation timeously, in order to get observers’ identification tags early. However, each observer group is required to submit its 2023 general elections observation report in order qualify for accreditation to observe the Edo and Ondo governorship elections.
The INEC Chairman announced that three State Houses of Assembly seats and one Federal Constituency seat across four (4) States have been declared vacant by the Presiding Officers of the respective Houses, and the dates to conduct elections into those seats will be announced after the Edo and Ondo governorship elections. In the same vein, the Commission will be announcing new dates for to conduct bye elections in Kunchi/Tsanyawa State Constituency of Kano State and Enugu South 1 State Constituency of Enugu State where elections were disrupted on February 3 and subsequently on February 14, 2024.
Lamenting the huge cost of conducting elections, INEC called for a collaborative approach towards restoring a single election season in Nigeria. Prof. Yakubu urged CSOs to recommend innovative ways to surmount the challenge of off-cycle elections.