All are set for the Anambra State Governorship Election tomorrow, Saturday 8th November 2025. This election is special in at least two ways. Anambra is the first of the eight states that conduct their governorship elections outside the nation’s general elections ambit. The others are: Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Kogi, Ondo, Osun and Imo.

Secondly, this is the very first outing to be led by our brand new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Joash Amupitan (SAN). He has already assured that everything needed for a hitch-free, credible election is in place. So, the ball is now in his court. Altogether, sixteen political parties, sixteen governorship candidates and their deputies consisting of 14 male and two governorship candidates are set for the electoral battle. Based on political parties that won previous elections, some of them are: incumbent Governor, Chukwuma Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nwafor Jude of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), George Moghalu of the Labour Party (LP), Vincent Chukwurah of Social Democratic Party (SDP), among others.

The expectations are high, and Amupitan’s image is on the line. We expect the electoral officers to arrive at their duty posts on time to ensure smooth conduct and early conclusion of the exercise. We also hope that INEC’s electronic or tech devices for voter identification, accreditation, voting and result transmission are adequately primed for successful election. Anambra is one of the South East states frequently associated with insecurity. It is, however, gladdening to note that the three month-long campaign were generally peaceful. But for the brief burst of nasty verbal exchanges between Governor Soludo and the Deputy Governorship candidate of the APC, Senator Uche Ekwunife, which deteriorated to family levels before sanity was restored, the electioneering activities were generally issue-based.

We expect the security agencies to ensure a hitch-free, peaceful conduct. With reported 45,000 police personnel, 10,250 civil defence officers and other security deployments, there should be no excuse for failure, provided that they perform their duties professionally. Apart from ensuring the safety of voters, we expect the collation activities to be adequately protected to prevent violence and hijack of results.

We also call on the security personnel to create a conducive atmosphere for the media and election observer groups to do their jobs. The INEC and security forces alone cannot guarantee free, fair and credible elections. The political stakeholders – candidates, political parties and supporters – must play by the rules. Those who fail to do so must face the wrath of the law. We expect the winner to be magnanimous, while losers will live to fight another day. Anambra must prove that it is indeed the “Light of the Nation”.