Voting has officially ended in the ongoing Anambra State Governorship Election, with sorting and counting of ballots underway across various polling units in the state.
The process commenced around 2:00 p.m. in several polling units, including Units 10, 02, and 03 in Amawbia, Awka South Local Government Area. Other areas joined later in the afternoon as officials completed voting procedures.
Saturday’s exercise was largely peaceful, with no reports of violence across the 5,718 polling units in the state. However, allegations of vote-buying surfaced from some candidates and observer groups.
John Nwosu, candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), accused the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) of engaging in vote-buying, while the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Nicholas Ukachukwu, claimed that his party’s agents were intimidated in some parts of the state.
Incumbent Governor Charles Soludo of APGA expressed confidence in his chances of re-election but raised concerns about alleged attempts to manipulate results during the collation process.
“The only thing we hear that is actually a concern — and we hope it won’t happen — is that one party has written results to swap during collation,” Soludo said after casting his vote.
“We hear they’ve even met with INEC not to upload results so they can manipulate the outcome.”
Former Anambra governor and 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, also lamented widespread vote-buying, describing it as a threat to democracy.
“What you see predominantly is vote-buying on a scale of ₦30,000, ₦20,000, ₦15,000,” Obi said. “If an unemployed youth sells his vote for ₦30,000, what will he earn next month when there’s no election?”
Civil society group Situation Room confirmed reports of vote-buying in parts of the state, which prompted monitoring by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Minor BVAS malfunctions were recorded but did not significantly disrupt the process.
According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), 2,802,790 voters were registered across the state’s 21 local government areas, with 16 candidates contesting for the governorship seat.
