On Tuesday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officially confirmed the re-election of Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo and his deputy, Onyekachukwu Ibezim, by presenting them with their certificates of return.
Kenneth Ikeagu, INEC’s Supervising National Commissioner for Anambra State, handed over the certificates of return in Awka to Governor Chukwuma Soludo and his deputy, Onyekachukwu Ibezim, two days after they were declared winners of the November 8 governorship election.
Speaking during the presentation, Ikeagu said, “Section 72(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 mandates INEC to issue a certificate of return within 14 days to every candidate duly returned by the returning officer.”
“In accordance with this provision, I am honoured to present the certificates of return to the Governor and Deputy Governor-elect, who were duly declared winners of the election.”
Chukwuma Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) secured victory over his main rival, Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who garnered 99,445 votes.
Paul Chukwuma of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) secured third place with 37,753 votes. The Returning Officer, Edoba Omoregie, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Benin, declared Chukwuma’s main contender, Chukwuma Soludo, the winner with 422,664 votes, triumphing across all 21 local government areas. A total of 16 candidates from as many political parties contested in the election, according to INEC.
A total of 598,229 voters were accredited from 2,788,864 registered voters, with 595,298 votes cast and 11,244 rejected. During the certificate presentation at the INEC headquarters, Governor Soludo and Deputy Governor Ibezim were joined by their wives.