Situation Room urges credible, peaceful conduct of Anambra governorship poll
The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies, political parties, and voters to ensure a credible, transparent, and peaceful governorship election in Anambra State scheduled for Saturday, November 8, 2025.
The coalition of over 70 civil society organisations made the call in its preliminary statement issued in Awka on Friday, ahead of the polls holding across 5,718 polling units in 326 wards and 21 local government areas of the state.
The statement jointly signed by Yunusa Z. Ya’u, Mimidoo Achakpa, and Franklin Oloniju, reaffirmed the coalition’s commitment to promoting credible elections and governance in Nigeria.
The group noted that the election represents the first major test for the new INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, who was appointed a few weeks ago. It welcomed INEC’s assurances of logistical preparedness and the Police’s commitment to professional conduct during the polls.
Read also: Anambra guber poll: No room for logistics failure, Amupitan warns staff
“Given the state’s strategic importance and high political stakes, credible conduct of this poll will reinforce public trust in democracy in the South-East and across Nigeria,” the group said.
According to the Situation Room, both sensitive and non-sensitive election materials have been deployed to local government offices, while INEC has mobilised 3,000 vehicles, 83 boats, 24,000 ad-hoc staff, and 6,879 BVAS machines across the state.
The group listed key expectations, including early deployment of personnel and materials to polling units for timely commencement of voting by 8:30 a.m, effective use of BVAS machines and transparent result collation; real-time result transmission to INEC’s IReV portal; and inclusion, especially through the deployment of sign language interpreters for voters who are deaf or hard of hearing.
It said its observers, trained for thematic monitoring on ballot integrity, campaign finance, misinformation, and inclusion, have been deployed statewide and will feed reports into a central Election Reporting App.
While acknowledging the deployment of 45,000 police personnel, the group described the number as excessive, noting that “after 26 years of regular elections, such heavy security presence signals a weakness in Nigeria’s democratisation process.”
It urged security personnel to act professionally, avoid voter intimidation, and ensure active contact centres to address incidents, especially in identified flashpoints.
The coalition also expressed concern over the “lack of competitiveness” shown by some political parties and urged them to fully deploy accredited agents across all polling and collation centres to ensure credible participation.
The Situation Room appealed to eligible voters to come out en masse and vote peacefully, warning against vote buying and selling.
“Selling votes undermines democracy and the development of the state,” it stated, while expressing optimism that the Anambra poll would mark a departure from irregularities witnessed in recent off-cycle elections.
