… As SaMBA Congratulates Governor-elect, APGA,
… Urges him to work for Anambra people
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Prof. Chukwuma Soludo the winner of Saturday’s governorship election in Anambra State.
The returning officer for the election and Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Prof. Florence Obi announced the final result at about 1:50am on Wednesday.
Obi announce the result after adding the figures garnered by each of the political parties in the Tuesday supplementary polls to those already declared on Sunday from the 20 local government areas of the state.
She announced the votes polled by the political parties as follows; APC – 43,285; APGA – 112,229; PDP – 53,807 among others.
She also stated the total number of valid votes in the election as; 241,523, rejected votes stood at 8,108, while the total vote cast in the election was given as 249,631.
Obi said: “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 Governorship election. 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 am the returning officer of the Anambra governorship election held on 6 and 9 of November.
“That Charles Chukwuma Soludo of APGA, having certified the requirement of the law is hereby declared the winner of the election,” Prof. Obi said.
Former National Chairman of APGA, Senator Victor Umeh while reacting to the victory said the election was transparent and was 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”, he said.
Meanwhile, the Southern and Middle Belt Alliance (SaMBA), Nigeria’s frontline political pressure group has advised Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, the Anambra State Governor-elect, to work for the interest of the Anambra people and not for parochial interests.
In a statement issued following the successful conduct of the gubernatorial election that saw the emergence of the former CBN Governor as the winner, the group applauds the people of the state for their resilience in ensuring that a free, fair and credible election was conducted in the state against all odds.
SaMBA, while congratulating the newly elected governor, urged him to transform the state just as he transformed Nigeria’s banking sector when he was the governor of Nigeria’s Apex bank between May 2004 and 2008.
The statement signed by Prince Rwang Pam Jnr., Spokesman of SaMBA on November 10 2021 also reads, “In a civil and decisive manner, the Anambra people gave their overwhelming votes to Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, making him the Governor-elect.
“While we congratulate the Governor-elect, SaMBA expects him to hit the ground running by immediately bringing his vast wealth of experience and infusing his full and unreserved force into the governance of Anambra State.
“We also commend the people of Anambra for their patriotic duty that negated the prior-held palpable fears of insecurity which had enveloped the state before the polls.
“Prof. Soludo and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) must demonstrate to ndi Anambra that they were not wrong in their choice as we had advised through our endorsement on the eve of the election.
“We hereby call on the Professor of Economics to show magnanimity in victory. The recent Anambra election has once again shown the enormous human assets with which the state is endowed as other candidates, eminently qualified to drive Anambra’s development had put themselves forward.
“In victory, therefore, Prof. Soludo must galvanize the talents and goodwill of well-meaning ndi Anambra at home and in the diaspora, irrespective of their political persuasions for the onerous task of moving the state forward. Soludo must be governor for all.
“Away from the usual razzmatazz that follow election victories in our clime, Prof. Soludo must hit the ground running, without much ado. The appointment of critical players in the administration need not wait until the installation of his government in March 2022.
“Ndi Anambra and Nigerians in general look forward to the incoming administration with great expectations. The Southern and Middle-Belt Alliance trusts the ability of the new Soludo administration to change the trajectory of governance in Nigeria.
“Beyond the burden of infrastructural development and administrative reforms in the state, the challenge of fiscal federalism and political unbundling at the centre, all encapsulated in the restructuring debate, remain the begging questions without which achieving other goals may be impossible.
“We at SaMBA will continue to offer advice and call things the way we see them. We will also not hesitate to proffer positive criticisms whenever necessary.
“Once again, Congratulations, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo! Congratulations, ndi Anambra!”
Photo: Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo, Governor-elect, Anambra State.
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