Ms. Cynthia Mbamalu, Director of Programmes at Yiaga Africa, praised the people of Anambra for maintaining peace before, during, and after the 2025 governorship election. She also lauded the security agencies for their professionalism and coordination throughout the process.
However, Mbamalu pointed out logistical challenges as less than half of the polling units were operational at the official start time, highlighting the need for INEC to tackle persistent election bottlenecks. She condemned vote-buying as a major threat undermining election credibility, calling on political parties to invest in building trust rather than commercializing elections.
Yiaga Africa also raised concerns about declining voter turnout, especially among youths, urging a national conversation on strengthening Nigeria’s democracy. The Anambra Election Observation Hub, comprising several civic organizations, deployed 711 citizen observers across the 21 LGAs and verified the official results through robust methodologies.
The observed voter turnout was estimated between 20.3% and 22.9%, closely matching INEC’s official figure of 21.35%, while the percentage of rejected ballots aligned with official data.
Mbamalu commended the leadership of Dr. Asmau Maikudi and Samson Itodo for their pivotal role in overseeing the election.
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