By Halimah Olamide
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday released the final register of voters for the forthcoming governorship polls in Edo and Ondo state.
INEC revealed that Edo has 2,629,025, while Ondo has 2,053,061.
This was disclosed by the National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee in the state, Mr. Sam Olumekun.
Olumekun stated that the final registers were approved at the meeting of the commission in Abuja.
He added that the register integrated new voters from the recent Continuous Voter Registration as well as the figures of successful applicants for transfer from other states to the two states.
According to him, of the 2,629,025 registered voters in Edo, 1,370,061, representing 52.11 per cent were male, while 1,258,964, representing 47.89 per cent, were female.
He also stated that the youths (18 years to 35 years) accounted for 983,133 (37.4 per cent), followed by 914,806 middle aged (36 to 49) persons.
He explained that the two age groups constitute 1,897,939, representing 72.2 per cent of the registered voters.
Olumekun also said that the occupational distribution of the registered voters showed that 868,764 students constitute the majority of voters (33.05 per cent), while 4,199 (0.16 per cent) were Persons with Disability (PWD).
He further said that the new register represents 4.9 per cent increase over the 2023 General Elections figure of 2,501,081.
For Ondo, Olumekun said that the state now has 2,053,061 registered voters of which 1,034,006 (50.36 per cent) are male, while 1,034,964 (47.89 per cent ) are female.
“Youths (18 – 35 years) account for 726,944 (35.41 per cent), followed by 721,982 (35.17 per cent) middle aged (36 – 49) persons.
“Together, they constitute 1,448,926 (70.57 per cent) of registered voters in the state.
“In terms of occupation, 694,938 students constitute the majority of voters (33.85 per cent),” he stated.
He explained that there are 1,782 (0.09 per cent) PWDs.
“The new register represents a 3.0 per cent increase over the 2023 General Elections figure of 1,191,344,” Olumekun stated.
He added that the detailed breakdown of the register for each state by Local Government Areas, gender, age, occupation and disability had been uploaded to INEC website and social media platforms for public information.
Olumekun further stated that in the next few days, INEC would release the timetable for the collection of Permanent Voter Cards in the two states.