Anambra Gov. Election: Early Reports Indicate Low Turn Out, Malfunctioning Of BVA Machines

By Ayodele Oni

The Governorship election in Anambra State commenced at exactly 8:30 a.m. on Saturday in all parts of the state. But low turn-out voters and malfunctioning of the BVA machines marred.

In some areas, market women, men and shop owners ignored the exercise and carried on with their daily businesses. They were forced to close shop by threats of a fine of N10,000 each by market leaders if fail to close shop.

Officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) began accreditation simultaneously at the polling units with only a handful of voters present.

While the exercise took place under the mango trees, some young men were seen playing football on the school field, seemingly indifferent to the ongoing election.

The 2025 gubernatorial elections at Polling Unit 001, Fegge, in Onitsha, Anambra State, are not going as expected.

Report indicated  that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machine was not working.

As of 9:55 am, no accreditation had started, and no voting had been recorded due to a fault in the machine. Voters are waiting for the BVAS to be replaced.”

This is as voting has already commenced in several other centres across the state.

According to INEC, 2,802,790 registered voters are expected to vote across 5,718 polling units in the state’s 21 local government areas.

The election will be held across three senatorial districts, with sixteen candidates contesting.

Prominent contenders include incumbent Governor Chukwuma Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Paul Chukwuma of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), George Moghalu of the Labour Party (LP), and Jude Ezenwafor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Anambra’s poll involves 2,802,790 registered voters across 5,718 polling units in 21 local government areas, with sixteen candidates contesting across the state’s three senatorial districts. Prominent candidates include Governor Chukwuma Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Nicholas Ukachukwu (APC), Paul Chukwuma (YPP), George Moghalu (Labour Party), and Jude Ezenwafor (PDP).

The Commissioner of Police, Abayomi Shogunle, reiterated assurances of a peaceful exercise, noting that security agencies had carried out clearance operations in high-risk areas and neutralised identified threats.