Two female and 14 male governorship candidates of different political parties are set to commence campaign for the governorship election in Anambra State, starting from next week Wednesday, June 11.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in a final list of candidates released to newsmen today, June 4, said that sixteen out of the 19 registered parties have been cleared to participate in the election.
In a statement by the National Commissioner and Chairman, Information & Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, the Commission said that the African Action Congress (AAC) and the National Rescue Movement (NRM) are fielding female candidates while six parties are fielding female running mates.
“They are Accord (A), All Progressives Congress (APC), Action Peoples Party (APP), Boot Party (BP), Labour Party (LP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).”
He said that none of the parties has nominated a person with disability as a candidate.
“In terms of age, the candidates range between 36 and 71 years.”
The Commission said that the full list of the candidates by party, age, gender and academic qualifications has been uploaded to its website and social media platforms for public information.
It made it clear that with the final list, there would be no further withdrawal or replacement of candidates, adding that it can only be allowed in the event of death of a candidate or running mate before Election Day, as provided by Section 34(1) of the Electoral Act.
The statement said that in line with the provision of Section 94 (1) of the Electoral Act 2022, Political Parties are now at liberty to start their electioneering campaigns in public from Wednesday 11th June 2025 to end at midnight on Thursday 6th November 2025.
“As enshrined in Sections 92 and 93 of the Electoral Act 2022, the Commission wishes to remind Political Parties, candidates and their supporters that it is unlawful to use abusive language, carry out physical attacks on opponents during rallies, processions and meetings or destroy their campaign materials.
“Similarly, all parties and candidates must be given unimpeded access to public facilities for media campaign, outdoor advertising as well as public rallies and meetings.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Section 95 (2) of the Electoral Act 2022 prohibits the use of incumbency to the advantage or disadvantage of any party or candidate.
“The Anambra State Governorship election will hold on Saturday 8th November 2025.”
