The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Tuesday officially confirmed the re-election of Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo and his deputy, Onyekachukwu Ibezim, by presenting them with their certificates of return.
The certificates were handed over in Awka by Kenneth Ikeagu, INEC Supervising National Commissioner for Anambra State, two days after Soludo and Ibezim were declared the 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 compliance with this provision, it is my honour to present the certificates of return to the Governor and Deputy Governor-elect, who emerged victorious in the election.”
Soludo, representing the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), emerged victorious over his main contender, Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who scored 99,445 votes.
Paul Chukwuma of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) came in third with 37,753 votes.
The Returning Officer, Edoba Omoregie, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Benin, declared that Soludo received 422,664 votes, winning all 21 local government areas.
INEC reported that 16 candidates from as many political parties participated in the election.
Out of the 2,788,864 registered voters, 598,229 were accredited, with 595,298 votes cast and 11,244 votes rejected.
During the certificate presentation at the INEC headquarters, Soludo and Ibezim were joined by their wives.