In Nigeria, an off-cycle election refers to an election held outside the regular schedule of general elections, which are usually every four years. These elections are held for specific offices or states when the regular election schedule is disrupted for some reason.

Off-cycle elections allow political parties, voters and the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) to focus on a particular state without the distractions of nationwide campaigns.

They also provide an opportunity for better monitoring and enforcement of electoral laws. However, they are also usually plagued by voter apathy.

Both state elections went off-cycle after the 2007 general elections.

In Edo, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Oserheimen Osunbor, was declared the winner. The candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Adams Oshiomhole, challenged the outcome. In November 2008, the courts ruled that Oshiomhole had been duly elected governor of the state.

As a result, Oshiomhole was sworn in as governor for a four-year term. This meant that the next governorship election in the state was due in 2012, one year after the 2011 general elections.   

Similarly, in Ondo, the Labour Party candidate, Olusegun Mimiko, challenged the re-election of the PDP's Olusegun Agagu in court and won.

Mimiko was sworn in as governor of Ondo state in February 2009. As a result, the next election was held in late 2012, ahead of a four-year term that began in February 2013.

Edo and Ondo are both oil-producing states. This means that they receive additional funds from the federal government as a result of petroleum exploration and production in their territories. 

Historically, elections in these states have been fiercely contested.

With the state elections coming almost halfway through president Bola Tinubu’s first four-year term, it is also an opportunity for the leading political parties to test their strength ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The significance of the upcoming elections has been marked by a high level of public debate, especially on social media, on issues such as youth unemployment, economic hardship and insecurity.

Inec published the final list of candidates for the Edo governorship election in April 2024. 

Seventeen political parties are fielding candidates aged between 37 and 64. Only one is a woman. However, six of the 16 male candidates have female running mates. 

Ondo also has 17 candidates. The youngest is 35 and the oldest is 75. All the candidates in the Ondo election are men, and only three have female running mates.

In both states, candidates are allowed to campaign in public until 24 hours before election day.

The three leading parties in the 2023 presidential election have put forward the top candidates in the Edo state election.

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has fielded Monday Okpebholo, the senator representing the Edo Central zone in the national assembly. 

Okpebholo has the backing of a former governor, Oshiomhole, who is seeking to regain some influence after the incumbent, Godwin Obaseki, severed ties with him. The APC candidate has promised to build on Oshiomhole's legacy. 

He also has the support of candidates from five other political parties: the National Rescue Movement, the Alliance Peoples Movement, the Zenith Labour Party, the Social Democratic Party and the Action Democratic Party. 

The PDP has chosen Asue Ighodalo, a lawyer and businessperson who has the backing of the incumbent, Obaseki.

Ighodalo has also received endorsements from several prominent individuals and groups in the state.

Analysts see the Edo election as another battle for supremacy between Oshiomole and Obaseki. 

However, the Labour Party fielded Olumide Akpata, who became popular as the president of the Nigerian Bar Association between 2020 and 2022. 

Akpata’s chances in the election are also high because the Labour Party won Edo comfortably in the 2023 election due to the popularity of its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, among the state's youth.

In Ondo, the candidates to beat are two former deputy governors of the late governor, Rotimi Akeredolu. Akeredolu died in 2023.

The incumbent governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, who is the APC candidate, was deputy governor of the state until December 2023, when he was sworn in as governor to replace Akeredolu.

The PDP candidate, Agboola Ajayi, was deputy governor during Akeredolu's first term.

According to Inec, 4.68-million voters have registered to vote in the elections in Edo and Ondo. 

Both Edo and Ondo have a history of election-related violence. Killings and kidnappings have been recorded in previous elections

There are already reports of incidents of pre-election violence in Edo. The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room reported that one of its partners, Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI), recorded 19 major incidents of pre-election violence between April and July 2024. 

In many cases, the election-related violence recorded by the KDI included shootings and assaults that left victims injured.

Inec chair Prof Mahmood Yakubu has said the commission was concerned about security.

Mis- and disinformation affected the 2020 elections in Edo and Ondo. Almost half (45.95%) of the claims analysed in a report by the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism were false. 

“Overall, the high level of false claims during both the 2020 gubernatorial elections in Edo and Ondo states respectively shows that ‘information disorder’ poses a significant threat to Nigeria’s fragile democracy,” the report concluded. 

The majority of the claims analysed in the report were found on X, then known as Twitter. Facebook and WhatsApp also played a significant role. 

Africa Check found a similar pattern ahead of the 2024 elections, with X being the site of most debates. 

As in 2020, the 2024 campaigns have been marked by accusations, counter-accusations and the circulation of allegations designed to discredit candidates. Some have been refuted as false and misleading. 

In August, for example, the director of the PDP's governorship campaign in Edo had to deny claims that the party's candidate, Ighodalo, had been disqualified. 

The LP’s Akpata has had to deny claims that the incumbent governor of Edo, Obaseki of the PDP, was funding his campaign.

And in Ondo, the incumbent, Aiyedatiwa, who is the APC candidate, refuted claims that he had questionable academic credentials.