- The exercise was largely peaceful, with no reports of violence
- Nicholas Ukachukwu, alleged that his party’s agents were intimidated
- INEC described the election as generally peaceful
Voting has officially concluded in the ongoing Anambra governorship election, with sorting and counting of ballots underway across the state.
Eko Hot Blog gathered that the sorting of votes began around 2 p.m. in polling units 10, 02, and 03 in Amawbia, Awka South Local Government Area, while other locations followed shortly after.
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The exercise was largely peaceful, with no reports of violence, although some candidates and observers raised concerns about alleged vote-buying.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, John Nwosu, accused the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) of engaging in vote-buying to influence the outcome.
Similarly, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Nicholas Ukachukwu, alleged that his party’s agents were intimidated in some areas of the state.
Governor Charles Soludo, who is seeking re-election on the platform of APGA, also expressed concern over alleged plans to manipulate results during the collation process.
“We hear that one party has written results to swap during collation and has even met with INEC officials not to upload results immediately,” Soludo claimed after casting his vote, adding that he remained confident of victory.
Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, decried widespread vote-buying across the state, saying he personally observed voters selling their ballots for sums ranging from ₦15,000 to ₦30,000. “
If a young unemployed person sells his vote for ₦30,000, what happens the next month when there’s no election?” he asked.
Meanwhile, the civil society coalition, Situation Room, also reported incidents of vote-buying, prompting the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to intensify monitoring.
Despite minor BVAS malfunctions in some polling units, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) described the election as generally peaceful.
A total of 2,802,790 registered voters were expected to cast their votes across 5,718 polling units, with 16 candidates contesting the governorship seat.
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