Voting has officially ended in the Anambra governorship election, with sorting and counting of ballots underway across several polling units in the state as of 2 p.m. on Saturday.
At polling units 10, 02, and 03 in Amawbia, Awka South Local Government Area, electoral officials commenced sorting shortly after the close of polls.
Although the process remained largely peaceful with no major incidents of violence, the election was overshadowed by widespread allegations of vote-buying from candidates and observers.
ADC governorship candidate John Nwosu accused the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) of deploying financial inducements to sway voters.
APC candidate Nicholas Ukachukwu made a similar claim, insisting that his party’s agents were intimidated in various parts of the state.
Incumbent Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, alleged a plot by unnamed political actors to manipulate results during collation.
He said, “The only thing we hear that is actually a concern, and we hope won’t happen, is that one party (he laughs) has written results to swap during the collation process.”
Soludo further claimed the alleged actors had “had meetings with INEC not to upload the results so that they can have the opportunity to manipulate the results.”
He, however, maintained confidence in victory.
Peter Obi Decries Rampant Vote Buying
Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, also condemned the prevalence of vote-buying, saying the victims of poor governance were now helping to entrench it.
Obi said, “Unfortunately, those who are the victims of bad governance seem to be the ones fuelling it.
“What you see predominantly is vote buying, on a scale of ₦30,000, ₦20,000, ₦15,000. A young person who is unemployed, if he sells his vote for ₦30,000, what will he be paid next month when there’s no election?”
Civil Society Coalition’s Situation Room reported multiple incidents of vote-buying and stated that its findings had prompted increased monitoring by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Minor BVAS glitches were also recorded, though voting proceeded smoothly in most locations.
INEC had projected 2,802,790 registered voters across 5,718 polling units in the state’s 21 local government areas.
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