Kenechukwu Ofomah
Awka
Saturday’s Governorship Election in Anambra State was characterized by vote-buying and malfunctioning of the Bi-Modal voter Accreditation System, BVAS and incidents of vote-buying across polling units in the state.
TSS correspondent in Anambra State reports that political parties bought votes for as much as N12,000 in some polling centres, in an election that witnessed improved turnout, unlike the experience during the 2021 Governorship Election.
It was observed that in the majority of the polling units, adhoc staff recruited by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC for the exercise arrived early at the polling centres.
Some of the areas where this was observed included Mgbakwu Ward One Amaezike, Polling Unit 015 Ezigwe Village Square; Central School Mgbakwu Ward One, polling Unit 002, Nodu Town Hall, Okpuno, Ward One, Polling Unit 010; Awka Ward 6 Ogbugbankwa Polling unit 010, among others.
Although there was a heavy presence of security personnel from the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, it did not prevent the open trading of votes for cash by the various political parties.
Meanwhile, a non-governmental organization, the Kimpact Development Initiative, KDI, has bemoaned the failure of the INEC and security agencies to enforce the implementation of the Electoral Act provisions on vote-buying and other aspects.
In a pre-election press briefing organized in Awka under the Nigeria Election Violence Education and Resolution (NEVER) Project, for the 2025 Anambra State Off-Cycle Governorship Election, the organization said their findings show systematic violations of electoral guidelines by agents representing primarily the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), All Progressives Congress (APC), and Young Progressives Party (YPP).
The Head of KDI’s Research and Strategy department, John Oluwafemi said, as an organization committed to democratic integrity, civic participation, and electoral peace, KDI, through its NEVER Project, deployed over 370 trained observers across the state to track and document election-related incidents and logistical challenges, BVAS functionality, vote trading and interference from party agents; while also spotlighting instances of transparency, and compliance with electoral guidelines.
Noting that the 2025 Anambra Governorship Election is a critical test of Nigeria’s democratic resilience, Oluwafemi said the Election Day Data Room (EDDR) provides a scientifically structured, phase-specific observation framework that allows KDI to generate credible, real-time, and inferential data on the conduct, integrity, and security of electoral processes across more than 1,000 polling units in the state.
“Through KDI’s 9jaTalks reporting app, 370 trained observers deployed across the 21 local government areas transmit live updates from the field to the Data Room, where the information is sifted, verified, and analysed by KDI’s data analysts. The EDDR also collaborates with international, national, and local observer groups to complement KDI’s reports, verify information, and cross-check findings for enhanced data integrity.
“Verified findings, incident reports, and analytical updates from the EDDR are disseminated in a timely, credible, and strategic manner. The communication framework balances internal coordination, public transparency, and stakeholder engagement while maintaining the integrity, legality, and ethical standards of all verified data shared externally,” he said.
An EDDR expert, Sunday Alao, while speaking on key observations of the Situation room, said KDI observed that the BVAS devices functioned optimally in 95.6% of the polling units monitored across the state, adding that a few polling units representing 2.64% experienced minor network-related disruptions, which were promptly resolved in several cases.
He revealed that the organization observed widespread compromise of ballot secrecy across several polling units, where voters were seen openly displaying their marked ballots to party agents after voting, a practice that fosters vote trading and undermines the integrity of the electoral process.
“Party agents have been observed engaging in blatant vote-buying operations, approaching voters with cash inducements ranging from ₦3,000 to ₦10,000, establishing "verification points" where voters received payments after casting their ballots.
“These violations represent a fundamental assault on the integrity of the electoral process, undermining the principles of free, fair, and credible elections, while the failure of INEC officials and security personnel at affected polling units to curtail these activities raises serious concerns about the enforcement of electoral guidelines and the protection of voters' rights.
“While the Nigeria Police and broadly - ICCESS announced the deployment of approximately 55,000 security personnel for the Anambra State Governorship election across all 5,718 polling units, field reports from our observers reveal a troubling disconnect between these figures and actual ground presence.
“Violence: So far, KDI recorded twenty-one (21) incidents of violence across the over 1000 polling units observed. These incidents involved group clashes, voter intimidation and harassment, physical assault, and ballot box snatching,” he said.
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