Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, has alleged acts of vote buying by an unnamed opposition party in the Saturday, November 8, 2025 governorship election in Anambra State.
Soludo, who is seeking re-election on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), spoke to newsmen shortly after casting his vote alongside his wife at Ofiyi Square Polling Unit 002 in Isuofia, Aguata Local Government Area of the state at about 1:25 p.m.
He expressed optimism about his victory if the system is made to work in line with the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines.
According to him, reports reaching him indicate that APGA is heading towards securing a 21/21 local government victory. He said he does not take the votes of the people for granted.
He noted that the election had been relatively peaceful, except in a few places, including Olumbanasa in Anambra West Local Government Area, where the BVAS device encountered challenges, and Nnewi South, where purported massive vote buying to the tune of between ₦15,000 and ₦20,000 per voter was taking place.
Soludo accused one of the candidates of making desperate moves to win the election at all costs, including allegedly inducing electoral officers not to upload results in the hope of swapping them with allegedly manufactured written results.
Similarly, the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, decried vote buying in the ongoing Anambra State governorship election, alleging that votes are being bought for between ₦20,000 and ₦30,000.
Obi, who spoke shortly after voting at about 11:50 a.m. at his Umudim/Akasi Ward, said the development was not good for the country’s democracy.
He said: “My personal experience is that democracy is deteriorating in our country. Unfortunately, those who are the victims of bad governance seem to be fuelling it. I have been able to listen to people around on what is happening today. What you see is that vote buying is on the scale of ₦20,000, ₦30,000.
“The question I ask is, if you sell your vote for ₦30,000, what is he going to be paid next month? By selling your vote, you’re selling no school, no hospital, no job; you’re selling away your future, and that is what is very worrisome.
“Other countries, even West African countries that are close to us where I have observed elections, I didn’t see this happen. So you people who are journalists, you must cooperate to save the situation.”
On his prediction for the election, he said: “I’m a member of LP and I support the LP candidate, but quite frankly, everybody involved in this election, they are my brothers and my sisters and everything. I’m not on the ballot. I have been governor 13 years ago, so I’m strictly in the Champions League of Nigerian politics; I’m contesting to be president of Nigeria. For people who are in the 1st Division, I wish them well. I hope surely they will do very well. Whoever wins, let him serve the people.”
