By Nigeria Fact-Checkers’ Coalition

Topic 1: #AnambraDecides2025: Four Things To Do After You Cast Your Vote

As the Anambra Election continues, electorates are encouraged to remain actively engaged  — not only by casting their ballots but also by participating fully even after the voting process is completed. 

Here are four things you can do as an electorate after casting your vote:

1) Monitor the election: After casting your vote, you can stay around the polling unit and monitor ongoing activities peacefully. Monitoring election activities even after you have voted is important to ensure your vote is protected. 

2) Encourage others to vote: While it is prohibited to campaign during the election, as an active citizen, you can go ahead to encourage registered voters who might not be interested in the process to cast their votes. 

3) Wait for results collation: You should wait and observe the counting process. This is important to ensure transparency in the counting process and helps you know the outcome of your vote. The results sheet (Form EC8A) can also be recorded and kept for future use. 

4) Report irregularities: One way to protect your vote is to report any form of irregularities during the election, even after you have cast your vote. When any form of irregularity has been observed, you can reach out to a security official around your polling unit, election observers, or the media.

It is important as an electorate to ensure that your votes are monitored and protected. With this, you are building a culture of transparency and accountability, making sure your votes count.  

Topic 2:  How to spot fake election results 

As votes are being counted in the #AnambraDecides2025, social media will likely be flooded with fake, premature results as experienced in past elections. 

Below is how to identify fake election results before you share them:

1. Verify the source: Trust only official updates from INEC and credible news outlets.
2. Wait for official announcement: Disinformation actors share fake election results claiming an early lead. The most effective  way to get the correct information about the original election results is by waiting for the official announcement by INEC
3. Watch out for Fake Form EC 60E:  People post manipulated EC60E forms, which are usually pasted on the walls after the election at a polling unit to claim an early lead. Look for spelling errors, inconsistent fonts, or blurry logos and do a reverse image search to check their origin.
4. Cross-check figures: Never rely on one source for election results. Check other credible platforms before sharing 
5. Beware of anonymous sources: Some often claim to have insider information about who wins. Never trust them until the official results are out.

Topic 3:  How the NFC exposed old video and how you can do that

A Facebook user posted a video displaying bundles of cash, claiming in the caption that it was “election-sensitive materials” delivered for the Anambra election. 

The NFC quickly swung into action to fact-check and found the video had nothing to do with the election. 

You can also do this. Here is how:

Observation

• If the video involves humans, landscapes, license plates, currency, languages etc, observe for details.
• In this case, we observed that the bundles are in the Nigerian Naira currency, so the video was most likely recorded in Nigeria, but this alone doesn’t prove it was recorded in Nigeria.

Reverse image search

• There are different ways to do a reverse image search, depending on the available tools to you. You can take a screenshot of the image and upload it to Google to search for the exact images. 
• You can also download the Invid plugin for Chrome, break the video into frames and conduct a reverse image search on the search engine of your choice (Google, TinEye, Yandex, etc). Invid is a video verification platform that assesses the reliability of video content spread via social media.

When did it appear?

• Click on the search results to see the posts with the same video. Don’t assume. Click on the posts you see in the results page to confirm the date it was posted.
• In this case, the video mainly appeared in April 2025, months before the Anambra election. Meaning: The recent post was misleading.
• Always prioritise official pages, verified accounts and journalists.

Add context

• If a video displaying bundles of cash suddenly appears during an election, it could be a deliberate attempt to sabotage legitimate efforts to ensure a fair process or a confirmation bias of years of vote-buying and selling among Nigerians.

One more check 

• Captions often accompany images and videos. For this video, the posts claim it’s from the birthday celebration of a socialite. A keyword search of the birthday and the bundles of cash led to the same video on TikTok.

Stuck? Share with the NFC

• We understand that fact-checking an old video, especially with limited tools or a low-quality image, can be tricky. If you are stuck or don’t know how to go about fact-checking a video you came across in the Anambra elections, reach out to the Nigerian Fact-Checkers’ Coalition (NFC) on WhatsApp: +234(0)9030785265

Topic 4: Where to check for the Anambra election result

Election results have started circulating after the end of the voting period in the Anambra election. It’s a common pattern after elections to see results from polling units circulate online, especially from partisan individuals who want to create a sense of victory at the polls. But some of these results can be fake, old or manipulated, which makes it essential to know the right place to check for a credible election result. Below are the credible places to monitor the outcome of the polls:

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC): INEC remains the primary and official source of election results. The Commission provides updates via its result viewing portal, where results are uploaded from every polling unit in the state. You can monitor the results being uploaded from the comfort of your home. DOn’t rely on random social media accounts.

Credible media organisations: You can also rely on them for live reporting. Some of these organisations have trained journalists and observers on the ground monitoring the collation of the votes as they trickle in from the hundreds of polling units in the state. 

Nigerian Fact-Checkers’ Coalition (NFC): Voters can also follow the credible fact-checking organisations in the NFC. The NFC verify the election results and other claims circulating online to ensure they reflect the official results or the on-the-ground situation. 

It is very important to avoid relying on random social media accounts for the Anambra election result. Always cross-check information with INEC’s official result webpage or credible media organisations. If you are in doubt about a claim you came across, reach out to the NFC about what you’d like to check.

Topic 5: Vote buying and other election day offences 

By all accounts, vote buying was rife during the 2025 Anambra state governorship election. 

Observers, journalists, and leading candidates in the election all complained about how blatantly agents of political parties induced voters with cash, sometimes in the presence of security agents. 

It seemed those involved were unaware that giving or receiving money as an inducement to vote on Election Day could get them jailed for one year. 

According to Section 127 of the Electoral Act 2022, anyone who pays money directly or indirectly to “corruptly influencing a person to vote or refrain from voting” at any time after the announcement of the date of an election, or ‘being a voter, corruptly accepts or takes money or any other inducement” commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of N100,000 or imprisonment for a term of 12 months or both.

The Act also says that threatening voters or preventing a political aspirant from freely using the media, designated vehicles, mobilisation of political support and campaign at an election, attracts a fine of N1 million or imprisonment for a term of three years. 

Here are other offences you could commit on Election Day:

• Voting or attempting to vote in a constituency where your name is not on the register of voters. Anyone who does that commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a maximum fine of N100,000 or imprisonment for a term of six months or both.
• Bringing to a polling unit a voter’s card that is not yours. The law says that any person who knowingly brings into a polling unit during an election a voter’s card issued to another person commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of N100,000 or imprisonment for a term of six months or both.
• Inciting others to act in a disorderly manner.  This offence attracts a maximum fine of N500,000 or imprisonment for a term of 12 months or both. 
• Campaigning, canvassing or soliciting for votes less than 300 metres from a polling unit. The law prohibits the following within a distance of 300 metres of a polling unit on Election Day: canvassing for votes, soliciting for the vote of any voter, persuading any voter not to vote for any particular candidate, persuading any voter not to vote at the election, shouting slogans concerning the election, possessing any offensive weapon, dressing in way aimed at intimidating voters, displaying any notice, symbol, photograph or party card related to the election, using any vehicle bearing the colour or symbol of a political party by any means whatsoever, (i) loitering without lawful excuse after voting or after being refused to vote, or blaring siren. Doing any of these is an offence that attracts a fine of N100,000 or imprisonment for a term of six months.
• Snatching or destroying election material or devices. This is an offence that is punishable by imprisonment for a term of 24 months. 

Topic 6: Four tips to avoid falling for misinformation after voting

As Anambra voters complete their ballots, attention now shifts towards vote counting, results collation, and political reactions. In this period, emotions may run high, and party supporters may begin to flood social media with unverified claims, misleading images, or sensational videos. Knowing how to navigate this information is crucial in ensuring that you’re not misled.  

Below are four tips to help you avoid falling for false narratives as you await the result

1. Check the source: Rely solely on information provided by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), credible news platforms, or trustworthy fact-checking organisations.
2. Look for multiple confirmations: Genuine claims are often reported by multiple reliable sources. Exercise caution with information from a single post.
3. Pause before sharing: Don’t forward any message about Anambra election results without confirming first. Spreading unverified content will only fuel confusion.
4. Use fact-checking platforms: Tag DUBAWA, RoundCheck, FactCheckHub, AfricaCheck, or any member of the Nigerian Fact-checkers’ Coalition (NFC) on every post that appears suspicious. 

To protect public trust and the integrity of our democratic process, it is essential to remain responsibly informed. By verifying claims, avoiding sensational content, and reporting false information, you also contribute to a calm and credible post-election environment.

Topic 7: How gubernatorial election votes are counted and declared 

As votes are counted in the ongoing Anambra gubernatorial election, results follow a structured collation process designed to ensure accuracy and transparency before the winner is announced.  

Below are processes that the results follow: 

1. Polling Unit Level: After voting ends, the Presiding Officer counts the votes and records the results in Form EC60E, which is posted at the polling unit.
   
2. Registration Area (RA) Collation: Results from multiple polling units are sent to the RA Collation Officer, who compiles and forwards them to the Local Government Area (LGA) Collation Officer.
   
3. Local Government Area (LGA) Collation: The LGA officer aggregates results from all RAs within the LGA and submits the totals to the State Returning Officer.
   
4. State Collation: The State Returning Officer reviews all LGA results, declares the official state-level totals, and announces the winner as the Governor-elect.