The Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC) says it is fully prepared to conduct Saturday’s local government elections across the state, with accreditation and voting scheduled to begin at 8:00 a.m.
The commission said preparations for the August 29 poll began in February, following the publication of the election notice in September 2025.
The election will take place across the state’s 21 local government areas, 326 wards and about 5,200 polling units.
ANSIEC Commissioner for Information and Publicity, Tony Chinedu, disclosed this on Wednesday at a press briefing in Awka attended by journalists.
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Chinedu said the commission had procured more than 90 per cent of the electoral materials required for the election and had completed the training of ad hoc personnel ahead of the poll.
He said both sensitive and non-sensitive materials had been packaged for deployment, adding that the evacuation of non-sensitive materials to designated locations had commenced.
According to him, sensitive materials would be deployed early on election day.
The commissioner said 22 candidates were contesting the chairmanship positions, while 346 candidates were vying for councillorship seats.
He said only two political parties, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the Young Progressive Party (YPP), were participating in the election.
ANSIEC said the participating parties concluded their primaries in March, after which the commission screened the candidates and published their names to allow for withdrawals and substitutions in accordance with the electoral law.
A major feature of Saturday’s election is the voting procedure for unopposed chairmanship candidate.
Chinedu explained that an unopposed chairmanship candidate would not automatically be declared elected. Instead, voters would be required to choose either “Yes” or “No” on the ballot.
He said the candidate would be declared elected only if the “Yes” votes exceeded the “No” votes and the candidate secured the required two-thirds majority in at least two-thirds of the council areas.
Where the “No” votes exceed the “Yes” votes, the election would be declared inconclusive, requiring the political party to conduct a fresh primary to nominate another candidate, the commission said.
The commission said the procedure was intended to give voters a direct say on candidates nominated by political parties and represented a new feature in the state’s local government electoral process.
Councillorship candidates who are the sole contestants for their respective seats, however, would be declared elected unopposed and issued certificates of return.
Chinedu said ANSIEC had trained ad hoc personnel across the state, with training sessions held in several local government areas.
He said the final training for Collation Officers and Supervisory Presiding Officers was taking place in Awka, stressing that the exercise was particularly important because of the peculiarities of the election, including the “Yes” or “No” voting procedure for unopposed chairmanship candidates.
Accreditation and voting are scheduled to take place simultaneously from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday.
The commission appealed to eligible voters to turn out peacefully and exercise their franchise, while urging candidates, political parties and their supporters to shun violence before, during and after the election.
Chinedu said security agencies had been fully deployed to protect voters, election officials and electoral materials.
He reiterated ANSIEC’s commitment to conducting a free, fair, credible and peaceful local government election and urged residents to participate actively in the electoral process.
