By Ayodele Oni
Public campaigns by political parties jostling for the Governorship of Ekiti state kicks off on Sunday in line with programme schedule of the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC).
The commission has fixed June 18 for the poll which will elect a new Governor for the state.
The newly elected will be taking over from incumbent Governor Kayode Fayemi, whose second term tenure terminates on October 17, 2022.
INEC had released names of candidates for the poll last week after participating political parties concluded their primaries.
According to the commission, 16 candidates representing the parties are expected to slug it out at the election.
INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, explained that out of the 16 names on the list, 14 are men, while two are women.
Okoye stated that “On Wednesday 16th February 2022, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) published the personal particulars and list of candidates (Form EC9) for the Ekiti State Governorship election in our State and Local Government offices as required by law.
“In compliance with the Electoral Act 2022, the Commission hereby publishes the final list of candidates for the election, following the close of nominations by political parties.
“The Commission wishes to remind political parties that under Section 32(2) of the Electoral Act 2022, any party that observes that the name of its candidate is missing from the list ‘shall notify the Commission in writing, signed by its National Chairman and Secretary, supported with an affidavit not later than 90 days to the election.’
“Furthermore, the attention of parties is drawn to Section 32(3) of the Electoral Act 2022, which provides that failure to notify the Commission ‘shall not be ground to invalidate the election’
“The final list is published in our State and Local Government offices in Ekiti State as well as our website and social media platforms for public information as required by law.
“Political parties are enjoined to note the provision of the law for compliance.”
African Democratic Party, (ADP) has a woman in person of Kemi Elebute as its flagbearer while the All Progressive Congress, (APC) has Mrs Moni Afuye, as deputy Governorship candidate among others
Political parties and their candidates are expected to tranverse the 16 local government areas and 177 wards of the state to canvass for votes from electorate.
INEC Chairman Mahmoud Yakubu, had projected a budget of N7 billion for Ekiti and Osun polls before the national assembly.
“We budgeted N7bn for the conduct of Ekiti and Osun governorship election, including the possibility of runoffs.
“We made a provision of N2.6bn for Ekiti State with a population of over one million registered voters and N4.4bn for Osun with 30 local government areas.”
