Youth organisation under the auspices of the Anambra State Town Union Council (ASTUC) has praised the new National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, for demonstrating in the recently concluded Anambra State Governorship Election that the Commission can effectively oversee the supervision, organisation, and conduct of free, fair, transparent, and credible elections across the country.

They noted that Amupitan’s first operation as the head of INEC was the conduct of the Anambra Governorship election, which he stated was evidence that Nigeria can accurately execute future elections in the off-season and during general polls.

This was announced in Awka, the state capital, on Friday, when the youths presented the ASTUC Transparent and Exemplary Leadership Award to the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr. Queen Elizabeth Agwu, in recognition of her significant contributions to ensuring the free, fair, transparent, and credible conduct of the governorship election in the state under her leadership.

ASTUC President-General, Hon. Ken Okoli, who awarded the prize, commended the REC for her commendable work, emphasising that the governorship election scheduled for 8th November 2025 continues to be regarded as the freest, fairest, most transparent, and credible election in the country under INEC. Okoli stated: “We’ll use it to assess how an election should be done peacefully and without violence.”

In response to the award, the Anambra REC agreed that the 2025 Anambra State Gubernatorial Election was extraordinary, describing it as outstanding. She said that the praise from the youth for the electoral process as the most credible is proof that INEC succeeded.

According to her, the Commission achieved unprecedented success, including the effective operation of BVAS and the smooth upload of election results to the server. She revealed that as of 6 p.m., two hours after voting closed, 97.8 per cent of results had been uploaded to the I-ReV platform of the Commission.

Agwu explained that she arrived in Anambra State in 2022 after the 2023 general elections, at a time when public confidence in INEC’s ability to conduct credible elections was waning, prompting the Commission to launch advocacy campaigns to restore faith in the electoral process.

She noted that the INEC National Chairman was her greatest supporter, advising her not to allow anyone to coerce her while executing her duties.

Agwu added that her resolve to pursue a more credible election process was reinforced when the National Chairman attended the Peace Accord and Stakeholders Meeting, observing that Nigerians desired a free, fair, and credible election.

She recounted that upon her appointment, she stayed at the boundary of the state to ensure her success, attributing the credibility of the poll to divine intervention and the cooperation of INEC management and staff nationwide and locally.