A coalition of election monitoring civil society organisations has released a preliminary assessment of the November 8 Anambra State governorship election, focusing on deployment of election materials
and personnel, accreditation and voting, as well as inclusivity and
accessibility, amongst others.

The coalition, referred to as Anambra Election Observation Hub,
comprised of Yiaga Africa, The Kukah Centre, International Press
Centre (IPC), Centre for Media and Society (CEMESO), Nigeria
Women Trust Fund (NWTF), ElectHER, and TAF Africa.

Addressing journalists in Akwa on behalf of other partners, Executive Director, Yiaga Africa, Samson Itodo, said the coalition jointly deployed 711 citizen observers across the 21 LGAs of the state, Each organization leads on a specific thematic pillar, including election integrity, results verification, election security, disability inclusion, gender participation, peacebuilding, misinformation tracking, and media safety.

He described the election as generally peaceful with a secure environment, adding that election officials and security personnel in polling units displayed
professionalism and adequate knowledge of electoral procedures.

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According to him,
while electoral materials were deployed as scheduled
in most polling units, some logistical challenges, such as delays in the arrival of materials
and election personnel, were recorded, adding that these led to the late commencement of polls
in some polling units.

He said BVAS, register of voters, voting cubicle, and Indelible Ink were present in 100% of polling
units observed, noting that election materials like the PWD Voter information and Statistics
Form (Form EC 40H) were seen in 86% of polling units, and PWD Poster (Form EC 30E) in
84% of polling units.

“Additionally, 5% of the polling units had two or more BVAS devices deployed. However,
in 3% of polling units, the BVAS accreditation count were not displayed to voters before
accreditation commenced. This procedural oversight could undermine transparency and
affect voter confidence in the integrity of the accreditation process,” he added.

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He said “notable gaps in security coverage were also recorded. In some polling units,
such as PU 014, Nkwelle Ezunaka, Oyi LGA, voting commenced without the presence of any security personnel. Such security gaps expose polling units to potential disputes,
intimidation, or electoral malpractice, especially in politically tense or high-stakes areas.
It also questions the accuracy of the 55,000 security personnel deployed for the election
as reported by the security agencies.”

Itodo, however, decried the prevalent of vote buying in the election, saying “these acts undermine the
integrity of the election.”

The Yiaga Africa ED, while calling for an urgent enforcement of electoral laws to deter vote buying and selling at election, noted: “In some instances, political agents adopted new and covert strategies to perpetrate vote buying.

“We received reports of party agents recording the details of voters for post-voting financial inducement. POS machines were also deployed at or near polling units to facilitate financial transactions in exchange for votes.”

The Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI) has decried political parties agents interference and vote trading in the November 8 Anambra State governorship election.

KDI, in mid-electiom findings made available to newsmen in Akwa, said the interference and vote buying by party agents “represents a fundamental assault on the integrity of the electoral process, undermining the principles of free, fair, and credible elections.”

The KDI, in the mid-electiom statement signed by its Team Lead, Bukola Idowu, stated that failure
of INEC officials and security personnel at affected polling units to curtail these
activities raise serious concerns about enforcement of electoral guidelines and protection of voters’ rights.

“One of the most concerning
developments observed across polling units is the pervasive interference by
political party agents in the voting process.

“Our observation documentation
shows systematic violations of electoral guidelines by agents representing
primarily the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), All Progressives Congress
(APC), and Young Progressives Party (YPP).

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“Party agents were 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 raise serious concerns about enforcement of electoral guidelines and protection of voters’ rights.”

Key Observations

The CSO said it observers in the field recorded late “commencement was due to absence of
INEC officials in some places, voters and at the instance of INEC ad-hoc officials they link this to the absence of security officials,” adding that compromise of ballot secrecy
across several polling units, and relatively efficient BVAS was also observed.

KDI said despite the huge number of security personnel deployed to the state for the election, troubling disconnect
between these figures and actual ground presence was observed.

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“Our observers have documented sparse and uneven distribution of security personnel at polling units, with many locations having minimal or no visible security presence, while security forces appear concentrated at strategic locations – There were report of
security concentration in Anambra South – like Aguata but major urban centers, and semi-urban LGAs seems to have sparse. Reports show that in Awka South
LGA, Ward 19, PU-21, as at 9:57am, no security officer was seen,” it said.

On violence, KDI said it observers recorded “twenty-one (21) incidents of violence across the
over 1000 polling units observed,” adding, “these incidents involved group clashes, voter intimidation and harassment, physical assault, and ballot box snatching.”

It further said: “Of the
reported cases, seven (7) in Oyi, three (3) occurred in Ogbaru, Njikoka, and one
(1) in Anambra East, Anaocha, Nnewi North, Orunmba and Nnewi South.

“The perpetrators were identified as party agents and voters, with one incident
involving a security officer who discharged tear gas at a polling location.”

As the Anambra State governorship election enters the results collation stage, the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room (Situation Room) has tasked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure every vote counts.

The Situation Room, in an Interim Statement on the election made available to newsmen in Akwa on Saturday, urged INEC to effectively manage the vote tabulation and result collation processes.

The CSO, while vowing to “follow up the process till conclusion of the election and declaration of results,” adjudged the election as relatively peaceful but with some shortcomings.

Observation

The Situation Room expressed concern that some polling units (PUs 015, 012, 013, 004 and 003) located within the RAC centre at Umuike Public Square, Ward 9, Awka South LGA, that do not require transportation failed to setup and did not commence voting until after 9:00am.

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The Situation Room, while stating that there was slow turnout of voters in several Polling Units (PUs), voting trading was the order of the day.

According to the Situation Room, though the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) was reported to have performed efficiently with a one-minute average turnaround time for accreditation of a voter in majority of the polling units, and poll officials displaying a somewhat good knowledge of the voting process, voting was delayed till 10:30am in PU 015 All Hallow Seminary School in Ward 9 of Onitsha North LGA due to malfunctioning of the deployed BVAS.

Situation Room said there was “no reports of any major violent incidents in this election except in PUs 001, 002 and 003 in Ward 2 of Anaocha LGA where some thugs dressed in INEC vest disrupted the voting process and denied supporters of some political parties’ access to the polling unit in favour of another party. This was immediately escalated to the Nigeria Police.”