By Nigerian Fact-checkers’ Coalition.
The Anambra State 2025 Governorship Election kicks off tomorrow Saturday as voters cast their votes as they choose the next governor for the Nigerian state.
Our team of journalists, researchers, fact-checkers, social media monitors, editors, and OSINT experts are on ground at the Nigerian Fact-checkers’ Coalition’s (NFC) Election Situation Rooms located in Lagos and Abuja, to debunk election-related misinformation and disinformation content targeted at causing voter apathy, inciting violence or influencing the outcome of gubernatorial poll.
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CLAIM 1
CLAIM: An X user @mr_niceguy234 claimed Anambra state governor, Chukwuma Soludo, has declared a public holiday on Friday, Nov 7, 2025, because teachers are to serve as delegates during the election.
THE FINDINGS: News reports confirm that the Anambra state government had declared Friday, November 7, 2025, a public holiday for all workers in the state, not only teachers. In a statement, the state government said the directive was to encourage workers to actively participate in the elections.
NFC sources, Mboho Eno of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) and Alfred Ajayi, a senior journalist in Awka, said the claim could not be substantiated.
“From interactions, there is no official evidence to back up the claim as of now,” Mboho told NFC.
Also, the State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Queen Agwu, said she could not confirm the claim.
Further checks showed that the claimant has deleted the tweet.
VERDICT: UNPROVEN
SOURCES: TheCable Newspaper, Election observers, INEC REC
CLAIM 2
CLAIM: A Facebook post urging votes for the Labour Party claims, “All you need is your voter’s card, index finger, and ballot paper,” with a graphic saying, “Use the index finger to vote.”)
THE FINDINGS: The 2023 election voting procedure document does not specify any finger for voting. Also, ahead of the 2019 general election, the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) addressed claims about which finger should be used for voting. In a tweet on February 12, 2019, INEC clarified: “A voter can use any finger to vote but must ensure the mark is clear and placed inside the box of the chosen political party without straying into another box.”
VERDICT: MISLEADING
SOURCE: INEC
CLAIM 3
CLAIM: A Facebook user claimed that security operatives in Anambra State have uncovered how Ukachukwu Nicholas, APC candidate in Saturday’s Anambra governorship election, planned to use fake police and thugs to disrupt polls in Nnewi South & North, Ihiala, and Onitsha South local government areas.
THE FINDINGS: The Anambra State Police Command dismissed the allegation. Its spokesperson, Ikenga Anthony, refuted claims that APC candidate, Ukachukwu Nicholas, planned to use thugs or fake security agents to disrupt the election, stating, “There is no such thing happening here.” Further checks showed that several media outlets reported on Friday that robust security arrangements had been made to ensure a peaceful election in Anambra. For example, Channels Television noted the deployment of heavy security to escort election materials across LGAs, while The Punch reported tight security in Awka as residents prepared to vote on Saturday.
VERDICT: INCORRECT
SOURCES: Police, Channels TV and Punch newspaper
CLAIM 4
CLAIM: An X user claims that Anambra’s voter turnout has hardly exceeded 22% in any election.
THE FINDINGS: An analysis by Premium Times of past Anambra voter turnout reveals that in the 1999 election, 1.02 million of the 2.2 million registered voters participated, representing a turnout of 46.4%. Similarly, the state recorded 47.22% turnout in the 2003 election. These findings also align with a recent report published by the Guardian newspaper.
VERDICT: INCORRECT
SOURCES: Premium Times, Guardian newspaper.
CLAIM 5
CLAIM: A Facebook user claims that the November 8, 2025, Anambra State governorship election will be held in 5,118 out of 5,200 polling units in the state.
THE FINDINGS: Multiple media reports quoted the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, as saying, “the election will be held in 5,718 of the 5,720 Polling Units in the state. Voting will not take place in the remaining two Polling Units due to the absence of registered voters.”
VERDICT: INCORRECT
SOURCES: INEC, Thisday, Channels TV
CLAIM 6
CLAIM: An X user asserts that Charles Soludo removed Arabic inscriptions on banknotes in Nigeria when he was the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
THE FINDINGS: A review of multiple media reports shows that the Nigerian government removed the Arabic [Ajami-derived] phrases on the lower domination of the bank notes in February 2007, citing a move to deepen national unity. Additionally, a check on the official website of the nation’s apex bank reveals that Soludo was the governor of the CBN in Nigeria at the time the shift was made.
VERDICT: CORRECT
SOURCES: TheCable, New Yorker and CBN.
CLAIM 7
CLAIM: An X user claims that a governorship election was held somewhere in Anambra two days ago.
THE FINDINGS: The “United States of Biafra Government,” now coordinated by Ngozi Orabueze after the arrest of Simon Ekpa in Finland, organised what they described as a county governorship election on November 4th, 2025.
The secessionist group had previously issued threats to prevent any Nigerian-led elections in Anambra State. However, days before the scheduled November 8th election, the group instead proceeded to conduct its own poll in rural communities around Anambra.
While recent videos showed that this event occurred, it had no connection to the November 8 election, which is being coordinated by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
VERDICT: MISLEADING.
SOURCES: X Videos, INEC,
Claim 8
CLAIM: An X user, Biafra First Son, claimed that Anambra’s governorship election will feature Nigeria’s first real-time result dashboard powered with artificial intelligence.
THE FINDINGS: Multiple media platforms revealed that the AI-powered dashboard, built by SoftSmart Enterprise Solutions, will read and process official result forms (EC8A) uploaded to the INEC’s IReV from 5,720 polling units across 326 electoral wards in the state. The process will last approximately 30 seconds, with an accuracy rate of over 95%. The system also includes an Election Night Analytics Suite, which will generate trend projections, regional performance breakdowns, and turnout estimates using live data.
VERDICT: CORRECT
SOURCES: Daily Trust, Punch Newspaper
*This fact-check report was jointly researched and written by members of the Nigerian Fact-Checkers’ Coalition (NFC).
