By Olufemi Ojomo

Twelve political parties will contest for the chairmanship and councilor offices in the elections set to be held across all 18 local government areas of Ondo State today.

Before the scheduled poll, the last council election in the state was conducted on August 23, 2020, with the tenure of the elected council officials elapsing on August 22, 2023.

Since then, the administration of the 18 council areas of the state has been managed by civil servants, specifically the Heads of Local Government Administrations.

However, after several postponements, the Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission finally fixed January 18, 2025, for the conduct of the election.

Although political parties were screened and cleared for the poll, only 12 parties will be participating in the election.

The People?s Democratic Party (PDP) announced its decision to withdraw from the election, saying it does not believe in the Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission to conduct a credible election.

The names of the 12 political parties contesting in the election include: Action Alliance, Action Democratic Party, Action People?s Party, All Progressives Congress, All Progressives Grand Alliance, Boot Party, and Labour Party.

Others include the National Rescue Party, New Nigeria Peoples Party, Social Democratic Party, Young Progressive Party, and Zenith Labour Party,

The Chairman of ODIEC Dr Joseph Aremo, gave assurance that the commission was fully ready to conduct the election.

He said the commission had successfully recruited and trained ad hoc staff to conduct the election.

Aremo assured the residents of the state, especially the voters of adequate security, adding that the electoral body was working with relevant security agencies in achieving this.

The State Commissioner of Police, Wilfred Afolabi on his part said there would be adequate police deployment in all parts of the state, warning that police will not hesitate to arrest any miscreant that may want to cause violence during the election.

The state government had declared Friday 17th January 2025 a work-free day to allow public servants who may want to travel to vote in the election,

As of the time of filing this report, the government had restricted movement in the state between 6 am and 4 pm today.

The situation is currently calm in Akure as policemen are stationed at strategic points along the major roads, inspecting vehicular movement.

Business and commercial activities are also shut in compliance with the directive.

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