ADC faults Anambra governorship election, alleges widespread vote-buying

Opposition parties have begun to react to the just-concluded Anambra State governorship election, with the African Democratic Congress (ADC) expressing dissatisfaction over its conduct, describing it as a “heavily monetised process that undermined the very idea of democracy itself.”

A BusinessDay check on the website of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) showed that a total of 16 political parties participated in the election.

According to INEC data, 2,788,864 voters were registered, but only 598,229 were accredited to vote. Governor Chukwuma Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) polled a total of 422,664 votes, while the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) came second with 99,445 votes.

Bolaji Abdullahi, national publicity secretary of the ADC, in a statement on Sunday, accused the incumbent and his party of engaging in widespread vote-buying. He also criticised the silence of security agencies and the inaction of electoral officials, which he said bordered on collusion.

Governor Soludo’s landslide victory in the Anambra governorship election was attributed to the “21/21 victory theory,” a political strategy that began in 2017 in which a candidate targets victory across all 21 local government areas of the state.

The ADC, which recently strengthened its structures through a coalition of various groups, said it views the conduct of the election with deep concern over the credibility of Nigeria’s electoral process.

According to the party, “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.

“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.

“Even more troubling was the apparent silence — and in some instances, visible inaction — of institutions mandated to enforce electoral integrity”, the party said.

Read also: INEC declares Soludo winner of Anambra governorship election

The party also accused security operatives of standing 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 the Independent National Electoral Commission, 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.”

It however, said the party remains committed to building a Nigeria where leadership is earned through integrity, inclusion, and service, “not through the crude exchange of cash for votes.”