An election monitoring organisation, Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI), has reported widespread vote buying during the 2025 Anambra off-cycle governorship election, revealing that political actors used snacks, beverages, and cash to influence voter choices across the state.
In its final post-election assessment presented in Abuja, KDI’s Executive Director, Bukola Idowu, described the scale of inducement as “pervasive and alarming,” noting that transactional voting is gradually becoming embedded in Anambra’s political environment.
According to the report, vote trading was observed in all 326 wards, where party agents brazenly solicited votes, verified voters’ marked ballots, and then compensated them with food items or money.
KDI said its 370 trained observers witnessed voters openly showing their ballot papers to party agents before being escorted to designated spots to receive rewards.
“Vote trading ranged from the exchange of small items such as snacks and drinks to outright cash payments. Reports from all 326 wards highlight the depth of the problem and its potential to distort election outcomes,” the report stated.
The organisation warned that the erosion of ballot secrecy threatens electoral credibility, encourages coercion, and undermines public trust in democratic processes.
Although security personnel were present in over 88% of polling units, KDI observed that vote buying continued with little interference.
The group attributed this to restrictions in the Electoral Act, which require security officers to obtain authorization from presiding officers before making arrests.
This legal barrier, KDI said, created an environment where officers could only watch as electoral offenses occurred.
The group urged the National Assembly to amend the law to give security operatives immediate authority to intervene in cases of vote buying, intimidation, and obstruction.
Beyond vote trading, KDI documented 35 incidents of election-related violence, including 18 cases of voter intimidation and harassment, 14 clashes at various locations, 1 case of ballot box snatching (quickly contained by security) and 1 accidental discharge by a security officer, which disrupted voting.
The report also confirmed the killing of a councillor in Orumba South by gunmen on election day.
KDI reported that voting started later than scheduled.
Although officials arrived around 8:00 am, accreditation and voting typically began around 9:13 am, due to logistical delays, confusion over polling unit locations, and late arrival of some security personnel.
The group praised the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for its efficiency, noting that it worked properly in over 96% of the polling units, with accreditation often completed in under two minutes.
KDI also commended INEC for uploading 98% of polling unit results to the IReV portal by midnight, a notable improvement in transparency.
However, its Ballot Integrity Project observed minor inconsistencies in registered voter numbers, discrepancies in accredited voter totals, and a few isolated cases of overvoting.
The organisation said these issues warrant internal review but do not affect the overall outcome of the election.
KDI highlighted a worrying pattern of interference by agents of multiple political parties, including APGA, APC, YPP, among others.
Observers recorded repeated disruptions and organized vote-buying schemes, including the setup of informal checkpoints where voters were paid after casting their ballots.
The report warned that these coordinated breaches of electoral standards pose a serious threat to the credibility of Nigeria’s elections.
To strengthen future elections, KDI recommended Improved logistical planning, Better polling unit setup standards, Enhanced security training, Stronger penalties for vote buying and other electoral offenses and Immediate empowerment of security officers to respond to violations at polling units.
Despite improvements in technology deployment, the organisation emphasized that the persistence of vote buying, weak enforcement, compromised ballot secrecy, and inconsistent security presence remain major obstacles to electoral integrity in Nigeria.
