The Edo state government has declared Friday, September 20, 2024 as a work-free day ahead of the state governorship election.
This is contained in a statement issued and signed by Joseph Eboigbe, secretary to the state government (SSG) on Thursday.
News About Nigeria reports that the purpose of the holiday declared is to facilitate travel for workers and residents for the state governorship election.
The election is scheduled for Saturday, September 21, across 18 LGAs in the state.
Joseph assured that adequate security arrangements are in place for a secure and democratic election process.
“This is to enable workers and other electorates to travel to their voting areas ahead of the September 21 governorship election in the state,” he said.
“The government wishes everyone journey mercies and reassures that security measures have been provided to ensure a free, fair, and credible election.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had said it registered 2,629,025 voters for the election, noting that 379,245 electorates did not collect their permanent voter cards (PVCs).
The commission had also asked political parties in the Edo state governorship election to end their campaigns by 11:59 pm on Thursday.
Earlier, Yiaga Africa, a civil society organisation (CSO), identified eight LGAs in Edo ahead of the off-cycle governorship election as hotspots for violence.
The LGAs are Ovia southwest, Ovia northeast, Egor, Oredo, Ikpoba Okha, Etsako West, Etsako East, and Esan south-east.
The CSO said its pre-election observation revealed that there are patterns of thuggery, intimidation, violence, arson, hate speech, and proliferation of small and light arms in the LGAs.
