KDI flags pervasive vote trading in Anambra poll

By Abubakar Yunusa

A damning post-election report by a civic group, Kimpact Development Initiative, has alleged widespread vote buying during the 2025 Anambra off-cycle governorship election, warning that transactional voting is becoming entrenched in the state.

Presenting its findings in Abuja on Friday, KDI’s Executive Director, Bukola Idowu, said vote trading was recorded in all 326 wards, with party agents openly inducing voters with snacks, beverages and cash.

“Vote trading in Anambra was observed in multiple forms,” he said.

“Reports from all the 326 wards highlight the pervasive nature of the challenge and its potential to distort electoral outcomes.”

The report noted that voters openly displayed their marked ballots to party agents, who then led them to designated spots where rewards were handed out.

KDI said the breach of ballot secrecy “facilitates coercion, encourages transactional voting and diminishes public confidence” in elections.

KDI said it deployed 370 trained observers across the state and found that despite security presence in more than 88 per cent of polling units, vote buying continued “largely unhindered”.

It blamed legal constraints in the Electoral Act, which require presiding officers to approve arrests at polling units.

“This loophole created a passive enforcement environment,” the group stated, adding that security personnel “observed infractions but did not intervene”.

The organisation urged the National Assembly to amend the law so that security officers can act immediately in cases of vote buying, intimidation or obstruction.

On election-day disruptions, KDI documented 35 incidents of violence, including voter intimidation, clashes, ballot-box snatching and the killing of a councillor in Orumba South by gunmen.

“Voter intimidation and harassment accounted for the highest number of reports,” the group said, adding that one accidental discharge by a security officer temporarily halted voting at a polling unit.

The report also highlighted logistical shortcomings, noting that although officials arrived around 8 a.m. in many polling units, accreditation and voting did not begin until after 9 a.m. on average. Confusion over polling locations and delayed security deployment contributed to the late start.

KDI commended the performance of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, stating that BVAS functioned effectively in over 96 per cent of polling units. It also praised INEC for uploading 98 per cent of polling-unit results on the IReV portal by midnight, calling the development an improvement in transparency.

However, the report said KDI’s Ballot Integrity Project flagged inconsistencies in registered-voter figures, discrepancies in accreditation totals and isolated cases of overvoting. While the issues require internal review, the group said they do not affect the overall outcome.

On security conduct, the organisation said officers “generally demonstrated professionalism” and that polling environments were largely orderly. But it noted “a troubling pattern of interference” by party agents from APGA, APC, YPP and others.
“Observers documented repeated disruptions driven by party agents operating in ways inconsistent with Nigeria’s electoral guidelines,” it added.

While acknowledging progress in technology deployment and result transparency, KDI warned that persistent weaknesses — including vote buying, compromised ballot secrecy, uneven security presence and poor enforcement — continue to undermine electoral integrity.

It recommended stronger logistics, stricter polling-unit standards, improved training for security personnel and tougher sanctions for offending party agents.