Twenty political parties will tomorrow, November 8, 2025, contest the governorship election in Anambra State, with the race shaping up as a fierce duel between incumbent Governor Prof. Chukwuma Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Both front-runners enter the contest with powerful advantages — Soludo banking on incumbency, and Ukachukwu leveraging what many describe as the “Federal Might” of the ruling APC at the centre.
According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), 18 other political parties will also field candidates in the closely watched poll.
Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, represented by Deputy Inspector-General Ben Okolo, has assured of tight security, announcing the deployment of 45,000 police officers to ensure a credible and violence-free election.
Police spokesperson Tochukwu Ikenga reaffirmed the ban on vigilante and quasi-security outfits, such as Agunechemba, stressing that only federal security agencies are authorised to provide election security in line with the law.
In a show of international support, the European Union (EU) has deployed 687 observers to monitor the exercise under its Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN) programme. The bloc said its observers, drawn from civil society partners, would promote transparency, peace, and inclusion across Anambra.
Among the EU-SDGN partners on the ground are The Kukah Centre, Yiaga Africa, International Press Centre (IPC), Centre for Media and Society (CEMESO), Nigeria Women Trust Fund (NWTF), ElectHER, and TAF Africa, operating from a Unified Election Observation Hub to ensure coordinated reporting and analysis.
However, Yiaga Africa urged INEC to step up oversight of logistics and transport arrangements for election materials and personnel. The group’s statement, signed by Dr Asmau Maikudi and Samson Itodo, called for greater accountability from the electoral body, security agencies, political parties, and civil society groups to safeguard the integrity of the vote.
