According to the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), the state's governorship elections have never witnessed a 50 per cent turnout.
The 2025 Anambra State governorship election recorded an increase in voter participation, but turnout remains low, further highlighting a persistent national trend of voter apathy.
On Sunday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared incumbent Governor Charles Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) winner of the governorship election.
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According to the INEC Returning Officer, Edoba Omoregie, Mr Soludo polled 422,664 votes to defeat Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who scored 99,445 votes.
Young Progressives Party candidate, Paul Chukwuma, came third with 37,753 votes while George Moghalu of the Labour Party, claimed the fourth position in the election with 10,576 votes.
Of the 2,788,864 registered voters in the state, only 598,229 were accredited, representing 21.4 per cent participation. A total of 584,054 valid votes were recorded, with 11,244 votes rejected.
Mr Soludo's victory spanned all 21 local government areas (LGAs), making him only the second individual to achieve this in Anambra's history, after former Governor Willie Obiano in 2017.
The 2025 turnout of 21.4 per cent marks an improvement from the 10.3 per cent recorded in 2021, when out of 2,466,638 registered voters, only 253,388 were accredited, and 8,108 votes were rejected.
The Anambra Election Observation Hub, a coalition of civil society organisations, had observed a persistent low participation in several LGAs, which reflects a voter apathy observed in the buildup to the election.
History of low turnout
Since the return to democracy in 1999, Anambra State has consistently recorded low voter participation. According to the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), the state's governorship elections have never witnessed a 50 per cent turnout.
In 1999, only 1.02 million of the 2.2 million registered voters cast their ballots, representing 46.4 per cent. The 2003 election saw the highest turnout with 47.22 per cent.
By 2010, turnout had dropped to 16 per cent, with just 302,000 voters participating out of 1.84 million registered. Participation slightly improved in 2013, when 465,891 of 1.77 million voters turned out, representing about 25 per cent. Four years later, in 2017, only 448,711 of 2,064,134 voters (21 per cent) showed up at polling units.
The decline reached its lowest point in 2021 when only about 10 per cent of registered voters participated. While the 2025 figure of 21.4 per cent marks an improvement, it remains far below democratic expectations.
Turnout trends across Nigeria
Anambra's low turnout shows a recurring pattern of voter disengagement across Nigeria. According to Yiaga Africa's 2025 policy brief, national voter turnout has continuously declined from 69 per cent in 2003 to just 27 per cent in the 2023 general election, the lowest since 1999.
In 2023, only about 25 million valid votes were recorded out of 93 million registered voters. The brief attributes the decline to several factors, including an inflated voter register, poor mobilisation, insecurity, and waning trust in the electoral process.
In the 2023 gubernatorial elections, the average turnout across 28 states was 31 per cent, but South-east states recorded the lowest. Ebonyi recorded the region's highest turnout at 22 per cent, while Abia and Enugu managed only 18 per cent.
Northern states, compared to other regions, did better, with four states recording turnout above 40 per cent. Across Nigeria's recent elections, including off-season polls, turnout has consistently remained below 35 per cent.
According to INEC data, some by-elections have recorded as low as three to eight per cent participation. In Edo's 2024 governorship election, only 25.9 per cent of registered voters who had collected their PVCs participated. In 2020, Ondo election recorded a 32.8 per cent turnout.
Despite increased voter registration and civic campaigns, enthusiasm for voting continues to dwindle. The Yiaga Africa brief notes that reforms such as the 2022 Electoral Act and the introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) have not fully restored public confidence.
It said many citizens continue to question whether elections lead to tangible improvements in governance, reducing motivation to vote.
Contributing factors
Security concerns remain a major factor in low turnout in Anambra elections. Analysts attribute historically low participation to IPOB-led sit-at-home orders and general insecurity.
According to an election monitoring group, Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI), despite consistent growth in voter registration in Anambra State, voter turnout has fallen by over 58 per cent in the last eight years.
The group said while more citizens are registering to vote, fewer are turning out on election day, describing it as a troubling trend that points to deepening voter apathy and declining trust in the electoral process.
The Executive Director, KDI, Bukola Idowu, during a pre-election press briefing, explained that Anambra North Senatorial District, which has the highest number of registered voters, consistently records the lowest turnout.
"To better understand this decline, KDI conducted a detailed analysis and discovered that although Anambra North Senatorial recorded the highest number of registered voters, it has consistently produced the lowest voter turnout in the state," Ms Idowu explained.
"While insecurity contributes to low voter turnout in the state generally, Anambra South, which has historically experienced higher levels of insecurity, still recorded comparatively better turnout rates. KDI's findings suggest that other factors contribute to the low participation in Anambra North, including logistical and geographical challenges."
She said some local governments, such as Anambra East, Anambra West, and Ogbaru, are largely riverine and hard-to-reach communities, with a higher voter-to-polling-unit ratio than other districts.
"These factors have contributed significantly to voter fatigue, disenfranchisement, and the persistent low turnout in the region," she said.
The group had recommended that special attention must be paid to these areas to avoid low voter turnout in Saturday's governorship election.
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Trust deficit, citizens' disengagement
For Cynthia Mbamalu, director of Programmes at Yiaga Africa, the low voter turnout in Anambra reflects a deep trust deficit in Nigeria's electoral process.
Ms Mbamalu said many citizens, especially young people, now believe their votes do not count and that election outcomes are often predetermined.
"The Anambra election is a reminder that citizens' confidence in the process has waned," she explained. "People increasingly feel that elections no longer translate into good governance or improved quality of life, so they disengage altogether."
Ms Mbamalu said the trend points to growing disenchantment not only with elections but with democracy itself. She observed that reversing this requires more than new laws.
"Reforms must be operationalised, and our political class must change its culture of impunity, abuse of power and corruption. Without that, citizens will remain disillusioned."
She urged INEC to ensure more transparency, including better logistics management and full compliance with electoral laws.
She added that political parties must also "put their houses in order" by strengthening internal democracy and investing in voter engagement. Citing Ghana as an example, she noted that political parties in the country actively conduct door-to-door civic education, a model Nigeria could emulate.
"Civil society, the media, religious institutions and even the private sector must all play a part," she said. "If democracy fails, we all suffer the consequences. Getting governance to work for the people is the surest way to inspire renewed faith in elections."
