The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan (SAN), has warned that any attempt to induce voters before or during the November 8, 2025, Anambra governorship election will be decisively resisted by the commission and security agencies.
Gatekeepers News reports that speaking at a meeting of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) held at INEC headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday, Amupitan disclosed that 24,000 personnel would be deployed for the exercise.
He said the commission was fully prepared for the polls, having addressed all logistical and operational details in collaboration with security agencies and transport unions.
“We must join hands to combat the menace of vote-buying. The commission is pleased with our collaboration with law enforcement agencies, especially the anti-graft agencies, to stop vote-buyers from contaminating our electoral process,” Amupitan stated.
He revealed that voting would take place in 5,718 out of 5,720 polling units across the state, explaining that the remaining two had no registered voters. Results, he added, would be collated at 326 ward centres, 21 local council centres, and finally at the state collation centre in Awka.
Amupitan also announced that INEC had extended the collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in the state from October 29 to November 2, 2025, after discovering that only 63.9% of registered voters had collected their cards.
Represented by Hassan Abdullahi, Director of the Directorate of Internal Security at the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the NSA, Nuhu Ribadu, assured that any form of violence during the election would be met with a firm and uncompromising response.
“As we prepare for the Anambra governorship election, we have put in place robust security measures. These include enhanced surveillance, deployment of sufficient security personnel, and improved intelligence gathering to prevent any attempt by disruptive elements or desperate politicians to undermine the electoral process,” Abdullahi said.
He added that security agencies were acting on President Bola Tinubu’s directive to ensure strategic mobilisation and coordination of security forces during the election, while ongoing engagements with political parties and community leaders were aimed at ensuring a peaceful, credible poll.
