The Ongoing Anambra Gubernatorial Election has been largely peaceful, with no standout incident of electoral violence in the state after voting ended for the day by 4 p.m.
Field reporters on duty in the elections reported a peaceful conduct so far, amidst an impressive turnout of voters, ending the historic menace of voter apathy in the state. The Anambra gubernatorial elections have historically been marred by violence and ballot snatching, making the peaceful conduct of the elections in the state an impressive development.
According to newsmen on the ground in Anambra South, elections in the local government were smooth, registering a large turnout of voters. The impressive turnout of voters was attributed to a free workday policy by the Anambra government yesterday, allowing civil servants and private workers to prepare and travel for the Saturday, 8 November elections.
Aside from the peaceful conduct and large voter turnout, there were reports of vote buying amplified by the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressive Congress, Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu.
The 711 election observers in the state for the elections also reported seeing acts of vote buying in the state during the elections.
Other challenges spotted by journalists and observers in the state include an absence of party agents from various political parties in the polling booths, affecting the due process of the elections. Party agents are meant to sign off on the election results of their parties before they are transported to the collation centre for counting.
As vote counting commences in the state, the general public expects the winner of the elections to be announced by midnight or in the early hours of tomorrow.
At the time of the report, the election results had yet to start filtering in from the collation centre.
