• Amupitan warns stakeholders against violating rules
• APGA, APC, LP rated as frontliners in poll
The Police Service Commission (PSC) said it has deployed staff monitors to the three senatorial zones of Anambra State to monitor police conduct during Saturday’s governorship election in the state.
The Chairman of the Commission, DIG Hashimu Argungu (retd), warned that police officers on electoral duties must exhibit a high level of impartiality and discipline, and must ensure that electoral officers and the electoral materials are protected.
The PSC Chairman also directed that police operatives on election duty must ensure that a conducive environment is created for the people of Anambra State to vote without hindrance, adding that officers who compromise their rules of engagement will be sanctioned.
DIG Argungu stated that the Anambra election should serve as a test case for the police as the nation prepares for the 2027 general elections.
He expressed happiness with the preparations so far put in place by the Anambra State Police Command, especially the State Commissioner, CP Ikioye Orutugu, who, according to reports, has recently visited all the Area Commands and known flash points in the state to underscore the readiness of the police to ensure a free and fair election.
Also, the Anambra State Police Command, yesterday, announced the resumption of Abayomi Shogunle as the Commissioner of Police to take charge of policing in the state for the governorship election on Saturday, November 8, 2025.
A statement from the Police Public Relations Officer, Tochukwu Ikenga, stated that Shogunle’s posting is in line with the policing operational strategy approved by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun.
He added that it was aimed at enhancing strategic security planning towards ensuring a peaceful, credible, and transparent electoral process in the state.
In another development, a Security Threat Assessment report conducted by the CLEEN Foundation ahead of the Anambra election has highlighted high-risk local council areas of the state, including Ayamelum, Awka South, Onitsha North, Orumba South, and Ekwusigo.
Presenting the report to security agencies and the media yesterday in Abuja, the Director of Programmes, CLEEN Foundation, Dr Salaudeen Hashim, noted that the November 8 election poses a high security risk driven principally by a recent pattern of politically motivated violence, active non-state armed groups and vigilante actors, and a highly competitive political environment.
However, the National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan, has charged all political parties and their governorship candidates to adhere to the rules governing Saturday’s election.
He stated this at Awka, Anambra State, during a stakeholders’ meeting organised by the commission.
Coming on the heels of the signing of the election’s peace accord 24 hours earlier, Amupitan, who is having his first taste of election as the Chairman of the electoral body, reiterated that INEC was fully ready for Saturday’s election in Anambra.
In a related development, candidates of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), All Progressives Congress (APC) and Labour Party (LP) have been ranked as the top contenders ahead of Saturday’s governorship election in Anambra, according to a new opinion poll released in Abuja.
The poll, published by the African Development Institute of Research Methodology (ADIRM), however, places the incumbent governor and APGA candidate, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, significantly ahead of the pack, with APC’s Nicholas Ukachukwu and LP’s George Moghalu trailing.
Presenting the findings, Director of the Institute, Temitope Olufunmi Atoyebi, told reporters that the exercise was a data-driven voter-behaviour mapping designed to provide a non-partisan basis of forecasting likely outcomes. He said the poll is part of ADIRM’s broader attempt to deepen electoral research, political engagement and policy conversations using credible evidence rather than political rhetoric.
