CSOs Raise Concerns Over Anambra Poll, Warn Against Weak Competition and Voter Apathy

By Emiola Osifeso

The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD–West Africa) and the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room have expressed worry over the declining level of competitiveness, poor public trust in institutions, and possible voter apathy ahead of today’s governorship election in Anambra State.

In a statement issued on Friday, November 7, in Awka, CDD-West Africa stated that although the poll gives Anambra’s 2.8 million registered voters a chance to decide the direction of their state, internal wrangling within major political parties has dampened competition.

“One of the major challenges in this election is that political parties have not shown the capacity to properly mobilise or engage voters. The internal problems in the big political parties have weakened real electoral competition,” the group said.

CDD also raised concerns over the fragility of key electoral institutions, calling on INEC and the judiciary to take firm action to rebuild public confidence. The organisation also pointed to delayed court decisions and logistics issues noticed during the Continuous Voter Registration as red flags.

Additionally, CDD listed misinformation, hate speech, and multiple forms of manipulation as threats to the integrity of the election. It identified seven notable patterns, including campaigns designed to question INEC’s competence, the use of insecurity narratives, and targeted gender-based attacks on women candidates.

Also speaking, the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, a coalition of more than 70 CSOs said at a Friday press briefing that it had deployed trained observers and would track developments through its Election Reporting App.

The group noted that INEC had provided assurance of readiness, including the mobilisation of over 3,000 vehicles and 83 boats to move election materials, 6,879 BVAS machines and about 24,000 ad-hoc staff to Registration Area Centres and polling units.

“Situation Room expects that the presence of security agencies in Anambra will ensure a fair environment for all contestants, discourage vote trading, and protect the integrity of the results,” the statement noted.

The coalition also applauded the relatively calm pre-election environment in the state, saying it differs from the tense atmosphere that had surrounded past elections in Anambra.

However, it stressed that INEC’s credibility would ultimately depend on early distribution of materials, ensuring that polling units open at 8:30 a.m. as scheduled, and prompt uploading of results to the IReV platform.