Soludo Emerges Anambra Governor-elect
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Prof Chukwuma Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) as winner of the Anambra State governorship election.
The returning officer for the election and vice chancellor of University of Calabar, Prof Florence Obi, formally announced Soludo’s victory, following the collation and announcement of the results of the supplementary poll held in Ihiala local government area.
“This is the moment we have been waiting for. I want to use this opportunity to thank the chairman of INEC and his team for this opportunity given to me and my university to partake in this Anambra 2021. I thank the service chiefs, the people of Anambra State. We remain very grateful.
“Allow me to read this form EC8E, which I have completed. I Prof Florence Banku Obi, hereby certify that I’m the returning officer of the Anambra governorship election held on 6 and 9 of November.
“That Charles Chukwuma Soludo of APGA, having satisfied the requirement of the law, is hereby declared the winner and of the election and is returned elected,” Prof. Obi said.
Obi declared that Soludo garnered a total of 112,229 votes to emerge winner.
He defeated PDP’s Valentine Ozigbo who polled a total of 53,807 to emerge first runner up, and APC’s Sen Andy Uba, who polled 43,285 to clinch the third place. The YPP candidate, Senator Ifeanyi Uba polled 21,261.
She further added that total valid votes for the election were 241,523; the rejected votes were 8108, while the total votes cast were 249,631.
In his acceptance speech, Soludo, charged his competitors to accept the verdict of the Anambra people, promised never to disappoint his people.
“To my fellow candidates in the election, I wish to congratulate you for the gallant contest. Our people have spoken overwhelmingly and surely, that voice is the voice of God. The ultimate winner is the Anambra people.
“We are all winners. I hereby extend my hands of fellowship to all of you. I need all of you to succeed. Politics aside, we are all brothers. Let’s come together for the Anambra project. There is enough room for everyone to contribute for the service of our land. I will need the guidance and contributions of everyone to succeed.
“With utmost humility and gratitude to God, I accept the result of the 2021 Anambra Governorship election as declared by INEC. This reflects the supreme will of the almighty God and an overwhelming sacred mandate of the people. For 12 years since the massive clamour by the people of Anambra for us to serve them, we persevered till this divine moment.
“This is a divine journey, whose time has come. To God be all the Glory and adoration. We have a very long list of persons, who God used to make this divine moment a reality.
“In particular, we thank all APGA members, especially, our national leader, Willie Obiano and his wife; our national chairman, Chief Victor Oye and his wife; members of our Board of Trustees; members of our National Executive Council, state exco, etc, for availing me the opportunity to fly the APGA flag.
“Many thanks to our legal team and all other stakeholders that worked tirelessly to see us through. We are grateful to the clergies, the churches, traditional rulers, labour, youths and non-indigene associations, businessmen, persons with disabilities, those in the diaspora and all our donors.
“We are humbled by the massive support from stakeholders across the entire country. In particular, I thank my wife and children for their love and sacrifices. As I promised, I will work hard every day never to disappoint you.
“At this moment, we must remember and will continue to remember all those who died in the course of this movement, especially, the three policemen, who were killed by unknown gunmen during our town hall meeting with youths in my ward. May God continue to grant their soul eternal rest.
“This election tested the resilience and integrity of our federal institutions. Many times, there were tensions, especially as one party boasted that it must ‘take or conquer.’ This has proven that this country can achieve anything. The judiciary stood for the integrity of that institution and we salute them for standing up for justice.
“We thank President Buhari and our security agencies for ensuring a level-playing field. We must particularly, commend the Chairman, management of INEC for systematically striving to bequeath a legacy of free, fair and transparent electoral system to Nigeria.”
Similarly, a former chairman of APGA, Senator Victor Umeh, while reacting to the victory, said the election was transparent, and is the best election so far held in the state.
“We have again won the state, despite the fact that some people boasted that they will win the state. This is to tell them that APGA is on ground, and it is not just about boasting of winning, but doing your homework well. I urge them to concede victory to our party and the candidate, because the people made a clear choice.”
