The governor of Anambra State, Soludo, says the electorate sent a clear message through their choices in the November 8 gubernatorial election.
He described the outcome as “history made” and “a shattering of another glass ceiling”.
On Sunday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced Soludo as the winner with 422,664 votes. Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) followed with 99,445 votes, while Paul Chukwuma of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) secured 37,753 votes to place third. George Moghalu of the Labour Party (LP) came fourth with 10,576 votes.
Speaking after he was declared re-elected, Soludo said the result reflected the people’s will in a truly competitive democratic setting.
“We are in a true multi-party democracy. Democracy lets votes count. We spoke loudly here in Anambra,” he said.
Commenting on participation, Soludo said voter turnout stood at about 22 percent, which he noted surpassed previous records and signalled stronger political involvement in the state.
He thanked President Bola Tinubu for “guaranteeing free, fair, and transparent elections”, calling him a “very true democrat”.
Soludo also praised INEC and its chairman, Joash Amupitan, for what he described as “effective management” of the entire process.
“This is your very first outing as INEC chairman. As the saying goes, you don’t have a second chance to create a first impression, and I am very excited that your first impression is very emphatic,” he said.
The governor further pledged to collaborate with various stakeholders — including religious, traditional, community, and business leaders — to fulfil the mandate entrusted to him for another term.
“We applied for this job. You employed us four years ago. What I can say, as we stated throughout the campaign, is that you have not seen anything yet,” he said.
“Like the Americans would say, ‘you ain’t seen nothing yet’.
“You are very emphatic by re-electing a governor, yours sincerely and my deputy Onyeka Ibezim with 73 percent of votes cast. We’re really humbled.
“I want to say it again and again loudly with this trust, in partnership with all our stakeholders, in partnership with you Ndi Anambra.”