The African Democratic Congress has condemned the conduct of the Anambra 2025 governorship election, warning that the level of vote-buying and institutional complacency witnessed during the exercise posed a serious threat to the credibility of the 2027 general elections.
The condemnation came just hours after President Bola Tinubu congratulated Governor Chukwuma Soludo on his re-election, describing the outcome as “an affirmation of visionary leadership” and pledging closer collaboration between the Federal Government and Anambra State.
But the ADC took a different view.
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Bolaji Abdullahi, on Sunday, the party alleged that the poll was reduced to a marketplace of cash-for-votes.
Abdullahi also warned that Nigeria’s democracy risked being hollowed out if electoral institutions failed to act.
“The African Democratic Congress has observed the conduct of the just concluded Anambra gubernatorial election with a deep sense of concern for the electoral process in Nigeria.
“What unfolded in Anambra was, regrettably, a cash-drenched spectacle that was more of a bazaar than an election. This undermines the very essence of democracy,” the statement partly read.
The party accused the incumbent and his party of orchestrating widespread financial inducement.
“We wish to state categorically that, as has been widely reported and clearly shown to Nigerians and the international community, this election was highly monetised, with the incumbent and his party seen to have participated in several forms and styles of cash-for-votes.
“At polling units across the state, bundles of naira notes changed hands in full view. This was a brazen violation of the Electoral Act, whose foundation had been laid by the Governor himself well ahead of the election,” he said.
