Executive Director of the Electoral College Nigeria, Kunle Lawal, says that electoral apathy could affect voter turnout in the ongoing governorship election in Ondo State.

Lawal made these comments during an interview on Channels TV on Saturday, November 16, stating that the ongoing election might result in less than 400,000 votes.

According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), a total of 1,757,205 residents of Ondo State are expected to participate in the election to choose a governor who will lead the state for the next four years.

Lawal said: "A total voting population of about 1.4 million. You have produced less than 400,000 votes. Akeredolu won with 228,000 votes. And now you have presidential elections in 2023, although produced approximately 450,000 votes entirely. So indirectly, what we're saying is the data is already showing, I can say most likely we would not have.

"We will not have a voting population in this election even though you have about 1.75, a little over 1.75 million registered voters. I don't see them having 600,000 voters. Apathy and political illiteracy are closely related."

Ondo is among the eight states that hold off-cycle governorship elections, which occur outside of the regular general election cycle. The state has successfully conducted these elections in 2012, 2016, and 2020, with the next one scheduled for November 16, 2024.

There are 18 political parties on the ballot, including the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but only 17 parties are fielding candidates in today's poll.

However, the main focus is on the ruling APC and PDP, with Aiyedatiwa and Ajayi as the main contestants. Analysts predict that the election will primarily be a two-horse race between these two parties.

The winner of the election will take office at the Alagbaka Government House after the current term ends on February 25, 2025.