With 112,229 votes, the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Prof Chukwuma Soludo, was at exactly 1.50am today declared winner of the Anambra State governorship election.
He defeated Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Valentine Ozigbo, who polled 53,807 votes, All Progressives Congress (APC) flagbearer and Andy Uba, who scored 43,285 votes.
Senator Ifeanyi Ubah of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) came fourth with 21,261 votes.
The Returning Officer, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Prof Florence Baku-Obi, said Soludo, a former Central Bank Governor, satisfied the requirements of the law.
She said: “That Prof Charles Chukwuma Soludo of APGA, having satisfied the requirement of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected.”
Before declaring Soludo winner, Prof Banku-Obi had announced the outcome of the supplementary election held in Ihiala Local Government Area yesterday.
It was the only council where the election did not hold last Saturday due to logistics and security challenges.
APGA scored 8,283 votes in the supplementary election, defeating the PDP, which got 2,485 votes; the APC, which scored 343 votes, and YPP, which got 344.
Eighteen parties participated in the governorship election for which 2,466,638 voters registered.
Total valid votes were 241,523 out of the 249,631 cast. The rejected votes were 8,108. APGA won in 19 of the 21 council areas.
Soludo, in his acceptance speech, described his victory as “a divine journey whose time has come”.
He extended a hand of fellowship to his opponents, saying there was room for everyone to contribute.
“We are all brothers,” he said.
Soludo promised to work hard “every day”, promising not to disappoint.
“My role will be that of your chief servant. The ultimate winner is Anambra. There is joy in the land,” he said.
The governor-elect spared a thought for policemen who lost their lives in the course of the electioneering.
“I won’t forget those who lost their lives in the course of this election, especially the three policemen killed by unknown gunmen,” he said.
He thanked Governor Willie Obiano, APGA leadership, the judiciary and others who played a role in his victory.
Senator Victor Umeh, who was the party’s state agent, said there was nothing to be challenged by any of the parties that participated in the election as Soludo won outright.
Umeh said he expected the other candidates to call the governor-elect to congratulate him.
“They should concede victory to Soludo and APGA. They should know that politics and elections are nothing something anybody should die for.
“It is a clear choice made by the people of who will be their governor,” Umeh said.
The supplementary election was not without incident.
Suspected members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and security operatives engaged in a shootout at Ihiala.
The incident took place at Mbosi and Osumoghu border communities between Anambra and Imo states during the supplementary governorship election.
The gun duel lasted over three hours, according to eyewitnesses.
The Police Zonal Public Relations Officer, Nkeiruka Nwode, denied the death of any security operative.
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The 302 Artillery Regiment, Onitsha Commander, Col. P.A. Adeke, said many of the suspects fled with gunshot injuries.
“They all wanted to die today (Tuesday). We wanted to finish them. So, many were gunned down and many others ran away with gunshot wounds,” he said.
It was gathered that the gunmen were seeking to enter Ihiala through Imo.
Some reporters, who were covering the supplementary election, ran into a barricade set up by joint security operatives at Mbosi/Orsumoghu junction, where the shooting took place.
The operatives comprising mobile policemen, Army, Navy and other security agencies, stopped the journalists, and after a brief search, turned them back, saying a gun battle was ongoing ahead.
Two unidentified policemen and a soldier told our reporter: “You have to go back for your own good. For three hours now, we have been exchanging fire with your IPOB brothers.
“Our men are in the bush now, and it will be risky for you to take this route.”
Deputy Commissioner of Police, Aderemi Adeoye, said election materials were not deployed to six communities in Ihiala – Lilu, Azia, Orsumoghu, Mbosi, Isseke and Ubulu Isiuzo – due to security reasons.
Senator Umeh was stopped from entering Ihiala by an army commander.
The former lawmaker arrived at about 10:30 am in the company of other party members, but was turned back by the army commander.
“You are not supposed to be here,” the military officer screamed at Umeh, who said he was at the local government headquarters “to ensure things go well”.
“You are a state agent, not LGA agent,” the senior military officer told to Umeh.
A PDP chieftain Chief Ugochukwu Okeke, decried the late deployment of materials for the supplementary election.
Speaking shortly after casting his vote at Unit 20, Odoata Central School, Uzoakwa, in Ihiala LGA at about 2 pm, he said four hours were lost to the deployment of logistics for the exercise which was supposed to commence at 10am.
Okeke, a former governorship aspirant, said he was glad the Bi-Modal Voter Accreditation System (BIVAS) machine captured him in less than three minutes while expressing hope the efficiency of the machine would keep improving.
Anambra Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr CDon Adinuba, expressed confidence that APGA would extend its lead at the end of the Ihiala election.
Adinuba blamed the late deployment of electoral officials and materials on traffic congestion and the peculiar security situation in the area.
He said Ihiala remained a stronghold of APGA, adding that the party was expecting about 90 per cent share of total votes cast.
The governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Chief Akachukwu Nwakpo, said he voted for APGA because the results announced so far reflected the people’s wishes.
He spoke after voting at his polling unit 004 Ward 01 at Umuatani Hall, Okija, in Ihiala.
“We believe it is time to finish this election by helping the winning party to make it to the end so that the military can leave and we can have a more relaxed environment for us to focus on issues that concern our communities.
“The leadership of my party, ADC, agreed with what we have done because we are not in the supplementary election and we did not score or get enough votes to be competitive.
“APGA is also a sister party because the founding members of APGA founded ADC and I also came from APGA to ADC. More so, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo is my friend.
“So, I feel this is an opportunity to support one another and for us to build together and let our people be part of governance,” he said.
Nwakpo praised INEC for ensuring the BVAS machines worked efficiently during the supplementary election.
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