The Anambra Election Observation Hub, led by Yiaga Africa in partnership with The Kukah Centre, International Press Centre, ElectHER and others, has decried the increasing cases of vote-buying in Nigerian elections, describing it as a major threat to the nation’s democracy.
In a post-election statement , yesterday jointly signed by Yiaga Africa’s Executive Director, Samson Itodo, and Chair of the 2025 Anambra Election Mission, Dr Asmau Maikudi, said “The malpractice “erodes equality in election competition and undermines the legitimacy of electoral victory.”
The coalition, which deployed 711 citizen observers across the 21 local government areas of Anambra State, used the Process and Results Verification for Transparency (PRVT) methodology — formerly called Parallel Vote Tabulation — to monitor the governorship election.
According to the statement, 250 stationary observers were deployed to randomly selected polling units, ensuring an independent verification of the official results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“Our findings show that the results announced by INEC are consistent with Yiaga Africa’s PRVT estimates for all 21 LGAs,” the report said.
Yiaga Africa commended the people of Anambra for conducting themselves peacefully during voting and collation, as well as security agencies for maintaining order.
However, it expressed concern that less than half of the polling units were operational at the official start time, urging INEC to address “persistent logistical bottlenecks” that continue to undermine public confidence in the electoral process.
The group also called for a national conversation on low voter turnout, especially among young people, warning that the trend poses “a serious challenge to democratic legitimacy and participation.”
According to Yiaga Africa’s analysis, voter turnout ranged between 20.3% and 22.9%, consistent with INEC’s official figure of 21.35%, while the rate of rejected ballots was within 1.6% and 2.2%, confirming the credibility of the results.