Opposition parties on Sunday condemned the conduct of the Anambra 2025 governorship election, warning that the level of vote-buying and institutional complacency witnessed during the exercise posed a serious threat to the credibility of the 2027 general elections.
The incumbent governor, Chukwuma Soludo, won in all the 21 local government areas in a landslide to seal a second term ticket.
The condemnation came just hours after President Bola Tinubu congratulated Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance on his re-election, describing the outcome as “an affirmation of visionary leadership” and pledging closer collaboration between the Federal Government and Anambra State.
The Independent National Electoral Commission’s Returning Officer, Edoba Omoregie, Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin, while announcing Soludo’s victory, noted that the incumbent satisfied the electoral requirements, having won in more than two-thirds of all local government areas across the state.
Soludo polled 422,664 votes to emerge the winner, with the closest rival, Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Progressives Congress scoring 99,445 votes to come second.
Paul Chukwuma, the candidate of the Young Progressives Party secured 37,753 votes.
While the Labour Party candidate, George Moghalu scored 10,576 votes, John Nwosu, the candidate of the coalition-backed African Democratic Congress (ADC) polled 8,208 votes.
According to INEC, 16 candidates from 16 political parties participated in the election.
But the ADC, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, alleged that the poll was reduced to a marketplace of cash-for-votes.
The statement partly read, “The African Democratic Congress has observed the conduct of the just-concluded Anambra gubernatorial election with a deep sense of concern for the electoral process in Nigeria.
“What unfolded in Anambra was, regrettably, a cash-drenched spectacle that was more of a bazaar than an election. This undermines the very essence of democracy.”
The party accused the incumbent and his party of orchestrating widespread financial inducement.
“We wish to state categorically that, as has been widely reported and clearly shown to Nigerians and the international community, this election was highly monetised, with the incumbent and his party seen to have participated in several forms and styles of cash-for-votes.
“At polling units across the state, bundles of naira notes changed hands in full view. This was a brazen violation of the Electoral Act, whose foundation had been laid by the governor himself well ahead of the election,” the statement added.
Abdullahi faulted the conduct of security agencies and electoral officials.
He said, “Even more troubling was the apparent silence – and in some instances, visible inaction – of institutions mandated to enforce electoral integrity. Security operatives stood by as voters were harassed and compromised, while electoral officials, overwhelmed or indifferent, failed to uphold even the most basic standards.
“If this is the manner in which INEC intends to conduct the 2027 general election, then Nigerians have every reason to be worried about the future of our democracy, especially at a time when the state of our nation is under the microscope of the international community.”
Also, the ADC candidate in the election, John Nwosu, rejected the outcome of the election, describing it as a “national embarrassment.”
Nwosu, who addressed journalists in Nnewi, on Sunday, alleged that Soludo’s victory was aided by money.
He noted that in almost every polling unit, voters were openly induced with cash ranging from N3,000 to N20,000, turning the entire process into a marketplace rather than a democratic exercise.
Although he did not state his next line of action, he added, “True victory is judged not by the outcome, but by the integrity of the process.
“An election riddled with corruption, manipulation, and vote trading cannot and will never represent the voice of the people. It was a shambolic election that conferred a shambolic mandate.
“I, John Chuma Nwosu, the governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress, hereby categorically reject the outcome of the just-concluded gubernatorial election in Anambra State.
“What took place yesterday (Saturday) was a ruse and total subversion of the people’s will, marred by massive vote buying and shameless financial inducement at polling units across the state. By every account, the people have not spoken.”
He added, “This struggle continues. We will not surrender. We will not be silent. Our movement will keep pressing until the people of Anambra can freely choose their leaders without fear or inducement.”
Nwosu condemned in strong terms the failure of relevant institutions to safeguard the sanctity of the ballot, lamenting that when the system fails to uphold fairness, it loses the moral right to declare winners.
He called for an end to this culture of electoral corruption if the country truly desires a prosperous and just society.
