The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has presented the certificate of return to Anambra State Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, following his re-election in last Saturday’s governorship poll.
The certificate was handed to Soludo by the supervising INEC National Commissioner for the Anambra election, Kenneth Ukeagu, during a brief ceremony held at the commission’s office in Awka on Tuesday. His deputy, Dr Onyekachukwu Ibezim, also received his certificate.
Ukeagu described the presentation as the formal conclusion of the democratic process, symbolising the people’s renewed confidence in Soludo’s leadership.
He believed that the commission’s action was in line with Section 72(1) of the Electoral Act, which mandates INEC to issue certificates of return to duly elected candidates within 14 days of declaration.
"In compliance with this statutory provision, I have the honour and privilege to present the certificates of return to the Governor and the Deputy Governor-elect, who emerged victorious in the just-concluded election," Ukeagu said.
Accompanied by his wife, Nonye, and their children, Soludo commended INEC for what he called a transparent and well-organised process.
He also thanked the people of Anambra and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) for their overwhelming support.
"With this renewed mandate, we shall accelerate the pace of development across all sectors and build on the foundations we have laid," the governor said.
According to the results announced by INEC, Soludo, the APGA candidate, won in all 21 local government areas of the state, polling 422,664 votes to defeat his closest rival, Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who garnered 99,445 votes.
Paul Chukwuma of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) came third with 37,753 votes, while George Moghalu of the Labour Party (LP) and Jude Ezenwafor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scored 10,576 and 1,401 votes respectively.
INEC stated that out of 2,788,864 registered voters, a total of 598,229 were accredited for the election.
Of the 595,298 votes cast, 584,054 were declared valid while 11,244 were rejected. Sixteen political parties participated in the contest.
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