Edo residents are expected to troop to the polls today to elect chairmen and councillors across the state’s 18 local government areas and 192 wards, with 12 political parties participating in the exercise.
The participating parties include the All Progressives Congress (APC), Young Progressives Party (YPP), Action Alliance (AA), Action Democratic Party (ADP), African Action Congress (AAC), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Accord Party (AP), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), National Rescue Movement (NRM), Action Peoples Party (APP), among others.
However, major opposition parties, including the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP), are not taking part in the election.
Deputy chairman of the APC in Edo state, Sylvester Aigboboh, who is also the Coordinator of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors, urged party members and supporters to mobilise massively for the election, describing the exercise as an opportunity for the electorate to reaffirm confidence in Governor Monday Okpebholo’s administration.
According to him, a convincing victory for the APC would further strengthen the party’s resolve to deliver its target of 2.5 million votes for President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general election.
Meanwhile, the Edo State Police Command has announced a restriction of movement across the state from 12 midnight to 3:00pm to ensure a peaceful and orderly conduct of the election.
The Commissioner of Police, Edo State Command, Monday Agbonika, said the restriction would apply to both vehicular and human movement, except for officials of the electoral commission, accredited election observers, accredited media personnel, security agencies, emergency responders and other essential service providers on election duty.
Also, the chairman of the Edo State Independent Electoral Commission (EDSIEC), Johnson Aifuobhokhan, said the commission had recruited and trained 10,000 ad hoc personnel for the exercise.
According to Aifuobhokhan, election materials have been allocated to all local government offices of the commission and arranged according to wards and polling units to ensure seamless deployment.
He added that logistics, transportation arrangements, security coordination and communication systems had all been put in place to guarantee the timely distribution of materials and the smooth conduct of the election.
