Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has released the timetable for its primaries ahead of the 2020 governorship election in Edo and Ondo states, in spite of the palpable presence of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

This is coming barely seven days after Nigeria’s electoral body, INEC, expressed its readiness to conduct elections in both states despite the uncertainty over the impact of the pandemic.

It will be recalled that INEC had, in February, fixed the governorship election in Edo for September 19, while that of Ondo State was fixed for October 10.

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APC’s National Organising Secretary, Emma Ibediro, on Tuesday, said in a statement that the party’s primaries will commence with the sale of forms to Edo governorship aspirants from May 20 to June 2 while that of Ondo State will be from June 11 to July 1.

The forms for governorship aspirants in both states have been fixed at N22.5 million. This includes N2.5 million for expression of interest form and N20 million for the nomination form.

“There shall be no separate charge for the deputy.

“Female aspirants and physically challenged aspirants (pay) 50% of the prescribed fees for each position,” Mr Ibediro said, adding that all payments be made into the party’s bank account.

The APC said its Edo governorship primary will hold on June 22 while that of Ondo State is to hold on July 20.

The party did not indicate what type of primaries it will hold. In the past, the APC has held different forms of primaries – direct, indirect and consensus – to pick its candidates.

Currently, both Edo and Ondo states are governed by the APC which also has a majority of the states’ lawmakers.