Edo, Ondo States Get New Register of Voters

By Nathaniel Gana

Wednesday 7th August 2024

A new Register of Voters for the Edo and Ondo State governorship elections has been unveiled. Rising from its regular weekly meeting on Tuesday, 6th August 2024, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced that the total number of registered voters in Edo State is now 2,629,025. Similarly, the number of voters in Ondo State has increased to 2,053,061.

Notably, the Edo State figure represents a 4.9 percent increase over the 2023 General Election size of 2, 501,081, while  Ondo State  figure translates to a 3.0 percent increase above the 1,191,344 voters on its register as of February 2023.

The new register, according to a statement by Mr. Sam Olumekun mni, National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), integrated the new voters from the recent Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) and the successful applicants for transfer from other States of the federation to the two States.

The breakdown of the new Edo State register shows some interesting patterns: of the total figure, 1,370,061 or 52.11 per cent are males, while 1,25,964 or 47.89 per cent are females. Youths (18.35 years) retained the top spot, numbering 983,133 or 37.40 per cent, followed by the middle-aged (36-49 years) with 914,806 or 34.80 per cent. The elderly (50-69 years) are next, with 530,244 or 20.17 per cent, with senior citizens (70 years and above) at the bottom of the table with 200,842 or 7.64 per cent. The total number of Persons With Disability (PWD) is 4,199 or 0.16.

With regard to occupational distribution, students constitute 33.05 per cent, followed by Business Men and Women – 18.55 per cent; Farmers/Fishermen – 10.90; Traders – 10.58; Others – 10.25, Artisans – 7.58;  Civil Servants – 4.75, Public Servants – 2.70 and Housewives – 1.65 per cent.

In terms of the distribution of voters by Local Government Area (LGA), Ikpoba/Okha has the highest concentration, with 400,495 voters, followed by Oredo, with 357,371, and Egor, with 242,266.

The breakdown for Ondo State reveals that while the males, totalling 1,034,006, constitute 50.36 per cent, females are 1,019,055 or 49.64 per cent. Like Edo State, the youths are also in the majority, with 726,944 or 35.41 per cent, followed by middle-aged voters—721,982 or 35.17 per cent; and senior citizens—162,619 or 7.92 per cent. There are 1,782 PWD voters on the list.

The varied occupations of the voters comprise students—694,938 or 33.85 per cent, trading—324,006 or 15.78 per cent, farming/fishing—277,144 or 13.50 per cent, business—218,598 or 10.56 per cent, Artisan—212,608 or 10.36 per cent, public servant—44,978 or 2.19 per cent, housewife—16,240 or 0.79 per cent and others—138,453 or 6.74 per cent.

The distribution of voters by LGA shows the four leading areas:  Akure South – 314,710; Ondo West – 190,666; Odigbo – 154,382; and Ilaje – 147,208

Mr Olumekun said the Commission will, in the next few days, release the timetable for the collection of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) for the States for all categories of voters.