By Jubril Bada

The Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) has rescheduled the conduct of elections in the 18 local government areas and 203 wards of the state to January 18, 2025.

The rescheduling was announced by the Chairman of ODIEC, Dr. Joseph Aremo, during a stakeholders’ meeting held on Thursday in Akure, the state capital.

It will be recalled that the commission indefinitely postponed the elections for the 18 councils and 33 Local Council Development Areas, which were earlier rescheduled to take place on July 13 this year.

According to Dr. Aremo, the election was never canceled but rescheduled due to the non-compliance of political parties with the electoral process.

He further explained that the postponement of the election became necessary as the commission was tired of continuous rescheduling.

Assuring the commission’s readiness to conduct free and fair polls, Aremo said the election would be transparent, and whoever wins will be declared the winner.

He urged the political parties that had conducted primaries before the postponement to forward the validated list of candidates to the Commission.

While outlining the continuation of activities for the conduct of the elections, he pointed out that the completion of political parties’ primaries and validation of candidates will take place from November 25 to December 7, 2024, adding that December 9 this year is the last day for the submission of forms for particulars of candidates and the list of candidates by political parties.

He further explained that the substitution of candidates by political parties will occur from December 12 to December 13, while the collection and submission of nomination forms will commence from December 16 to December 18. Campaigns by political parties will kick off on December 23 and end at midnight on January 16, 2025.

The chairman stated that the distribution of non-sensitive materials to the 18 local governments will take place from January 6 to January 10, 2025.

Speaking with newsmen, the State Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Mr. Olaoluwa Adesanya, expressed satisfaction with the ODIEC chairman’s presentation on the preparedness of the commission for the elections.

He noted, “At the level of IPAC, the commission is focused, and we have decided to participate in the election.

“It is better we have the election in January than not have it at all.

“It might not be all political parties that will participate, but the majority will cooperate.”