THE Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD–West Africa) and the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room (Situation Room), have raised concerns over low electoral competitiveness, weak institutional confidence, and voter apathy ahead of the Anambra State governorship election holding today, Saturday, November 8.
In a statement on Friday, November 7, in Awka, the CDD-West Africa noted that while the election presents an opportunity for Anambra’s 2.8 million registered voters to shape the future of the state, internal crises within major political parties have weakened electoral competitiveness.
“A major concern in the Anambra governorship election is that the political parties have not demonstrated the capacity to mobilise and sensitise voters. The internal crisis within Nigeria’s major political parties at the moment has weakened electoral competitiveness in the Anambra governorship election,” it said.
The organisation warned of the fragility of electoral institutions, urging the National Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) and the judiciary to act decisively to restore public trust. It cited delayed court rulings and logistical lapses observed during the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise as worrying indicators.
The CDD further highlighted the spread of misinformation and hate speech as key threats to the credibility of the election.
It identified seven major patterns of manipulation, including disinformation about INEC’s competence, exploitation of insecurity narratives, and gendered hate campaigns targeting women in politics.
Similarly, the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, a coalition of over 70 civil society organisations, at a press conference on Friday, said it had deployed trained observers and was monitoring the process through its Election Reporting App.
The group acknowledged INEC’s assurances of readiness, noting that over 3,000 vehicles and 83 boats had been mobilised to transport election materials, including 6,879 BVAS machines and 24,000 ad-hoc staff, to RACs and polling units.
“Situation Room expects that the presence of security agencies in Anambra State will provide a level-playing environment for all parties, deter vote buying and selling, and uphold the sanctity of the election results,” the group said.
The Situation Room commended the relatively peaceful pre-election atmosphere in Anambra, contrasting it with the tense conditions surrounding previous polls in the state.
It, however, emphasised that INEC’s credibility would hinge on early deployment of materials, timely opening of polls at 8:30 a.m., and the real-time upload of results to the IReV portal.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M