Anambra Poll: Soludo Maintains Wide Lead as INEC Dismisses Vote Buying Claims
The All Progressives Grand Alliance candidate, Chukwuma Soludo, continues to dominate the Anambra State governorship election, taking a commanding lead in 19 local government areas declared so far.
The Independent National Electoral Commission began collating results at its headquarters in Awka, the state capital, following the completion of counting in most polling units across the state.
Results from 19 LGs announced so far indicated that APGA polled 389,789 votes, followed by the All Progressives Congress with 91,592, Labour Party with 10,366, and the Peoples Democratic Party with 1,230.
With two LGAs remaining to be collated, APGA’s candidate maintains a comfortable lead and is on track to secure a second term in Anambra State.
The collation exercise, presided over by the State Returning Officer at INEC’s headquarters in Awka, is expected to continue until all 21 local government areas have been announced.
The Independent National Electoral Commission has dismissed allegations of widespread vote-buying during Saturday’s Anambra State governorship election, insisting that no credible evidence has been presented to support the claims.
The clarification comes amid allegations by the All Progressives Grand Alliance governorship candidate, Chukwuma Soludo, that incidents of vote-buying were recorded in some polling units in Nnewi South Local Government Area of the state.
Similarly, the Labour Party governorship candidate, George Moghalu, and his African Action Congress counterpart, Chioma Ifemeludike, alleged that voters were openly selling their votes for between ₦3,000 and ₦5,000, reportedly under the supervision of unidentified agents.
However, speaking on Channels Television’s News at 10 on Saturday, the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Anambra State, Queen Agwu, described the allegations as unsubstantiated and urged anyone with proof to come forward.
She said, “When the two strongest candidates went to vote, they mentioned vote-buying. But, as I stated during voter education, anyone with such information should provide facts and figures. Vote-buying is a very serious offence and a legislative matter. If you want to accuse someone, give us evidence. You can’t just go on television and say there’s vote-buying everywhere without mentioning one place.”
While acknowledging reports of logistical issues and intimidation in some areas, the REC maintained that no verified incident of vote-buying was reported to the commission’s situation room throughout the exercise.
