The Independent National Electoral Commission has approved the 2025 Anambra State Governorship election to hold on Saturday 8th November 2025.
INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu disclosed this at the fourth regular consultative meeting with political parties which is the final for this year. The last extraordinary meeting on preparations for the Edo State Governorship election took place two months ago on Thursday 29th August 2024.
Prof Yakubu noted that the in compliance with the mandatory requirement of 360 days, the formal notice for the election will be published on 13th November 2024. Party primaries will be held from 20th March 2025 to 10th April 2025.
He said the candidate nomination portal will open at 9.00am on 18th April 2025 and close at 6.00pm on 12th May 2025. The final list of candidates will be published on 9th June 2025.
"Campaign in public by political parties will commence on 11th June 2025 and end at midnight of Thursday 6th November 2025. Voting will take place in all the 5,720 Polling Units across the State on Saturday 8th November 2025.
"In the coming weeks, the Commission will provide details of other electoral activities, including the registration of new voters, transfer of voters and the replacement of lost or damaged PVCs. The detailed Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2025 Anambra State Governorship election will be uploaded to our website and social media platforms before the end of this meeting. Hard copies will also be made available to you shortly." he added
Even as we prepare for the Ondo State Governorship election, we are always mindful of our responsibilities for elections and electoral activities. For instance, Section 28(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 requires the Commission to issue the notice for elections not later than 360 days before the date of the election.
This applies to the General as well as Off-Cycle governorship elections. As you are aware, the last governorship election in Anambra State was held on 6th November 2021.
He urged political parties to use the INEC Timetable to come up with your own Timetable and Schedule of Activities to enable us work together and plan better for the deployment of personnel and resources for the monitoring of your party primaries and campaign activities. By doing so, you will avoid the last minute rush with the attendant inability to meet deadlines. We will discuss this important matter at this meeting.
In his remarks, the National Chairman, Inter Party Advisory Council urges governments at all levels to improve the people's wellbeing in tandem with Section 14(2)b of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, which provides that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government. Urgent steps should be taken to ameliorate the hardship millions of Nigerians are facing today. This will spur their political participation that will give more credence to the electoral process.
Nigerians expect INEC to improve on the Saturday 16th November 2024, Ondo State gubernatorial poll.
Council urges stakeholders in the electoral process to join in voter education, sensitisation and mobilisation to ensure a free, fair, credible, transparent, inclusive, and peaceful election that will meet international standards.
IPAC will lead from the front in voter mobilisation as a major stakeholder, and urges political parties and their candidates to imbibe issue-based campaigns and eschew politics of bitterness.
The commission is required to put its act together, provide adequate electoral materials, test run its BVAS and IReV portal to avoid undue technical hitches and glitches that will cast doubt on the integrity of the election. The issue of late arrival of election materials to some polling units must be addressed to reinforce confidence in the polls.
Equally important is effective communication by the commission's officials particularly during the collation of results to avoid suspicion of manipulation of results as it happened in the Edo State governorship election where some politicians stormed the collation centre to know why collation of results was suspended. Nigerians, indeed the entire world expect transparency in the conduct of elections.
Security agents, election observers and the media have critical roles to play in ensuring the success of the poll. They are urged to discharge their duties with utmost responsibility and patriotism. Vote trading has been the bane of most elections in Nigeria.
Security agents should apprehend and prosecute vote buyers and sellers and their sponsors to face the full weight of the law. We must sanitise the electoral process to stimulate increased restoration of trust that will encourage citizens participation in elections.
IPAC reiterates its demand for the scrapping of the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) as the sham called elections they conduct are deliberate assault on the nation's democracy. Council will not fold its hand and allow this glaring perversion of the democratic process to continue. It is not just a coronation of the candidates of a ruling party in the state, it is daylight robbery of people's votes and mandates for chairmanship and councillorship positions.
In place of SIECs, Council proposes that INEC should conduct all Local Government elections in Nigeria as it does for federal and state elections. There is no need to create another body to conduct Local Government polls. The National Assembly should not dissipate energy and resources in establishing any Local Government electoral commission, instead it should strengthen INEC to conduct all elections in the country. The commission's elections may not be perfect; they are far better and credible than the charades showcased by SIECs acting as rubber stamps of the governors who appointed them.
IPAC is aware of crises in some political parties and inflammatory statements by politicians and public office holders that tend to overheat the polity.