VOTING ENDS AS COUNTING BEGINS AMID ALLEGATIONS OF VOTE-BUYING IN ANAMBRA GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION
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Voting has ended in the Anambra State governorship election, with sorting and counting of ballots currently underway across polling units in the state.
The process began around 2:00 p.m. in several polling units, including Units 10, 02, and 03 in Amawbia, Awka South Local Government Area, while other locations commenced later in the afternoon.
Saturday’s exercise was largely peaceful, with no reports of violence across the South-Eastern state. However, allegations of vote-buying and intimidation have surfaced from some political parties and observers.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, John Nwosu, accused the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) of engaging in vote-buying, while the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Nicholas Ukachukwu, alleged intimidation of his party agents in some areas.
Incumbent Governor Charles Soludo, the APGA flagbearer, expressed confidence in his chances but alleged attempts to manipulate results during the collation process.
“The only thing we hear that is actually a concern, and we hope won’t happen, is that one party has written results to swap during the collation process,” Soludo said after casting his vote. “We hear they have even had meetings with INEC not to upload the results so that they can manipulate them.”
Also weighing in, Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, decried widespread vote-buying, citing cases of payments ranging from ₦15,000 to ₦30,000 per voter.
“I have moved around and observed what’s happening,” Obi said. “The question is, if an unemployed young person sells his vote for ₦30,000, what will he earn next month when there’s no election?”
A civil society group, Situation Room, also reported incidents of vote-buying, prompting monitoring by officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Minor glitches with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) were recorded, but voting remained largely smooth.
According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), a total of 2,802,790 registered voters were expected to cast their ballots across 5,718 polling units. Sixteen candidates are contesting the governorship election.
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