Charles Chukwuma Soludo, former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has been re-elected as Governor of Anambra State following a decisive victory in the state’s gubernatorial election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced the final results on Sunday, confirming Soludo’s commanding lead with 422,664 votes under the banner of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
The result secures his second term in office, reinforcing his political influence in the southeastern state.
Soludo’s closest rival, the All Progressives Congress (APC), garnered 99,445 votes, followed by the Young Progressives Party (YPP) with 37,753 votes. Other contenders included the Labour Party (LP) with 10,576 votes, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) with 8,208 votes, and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which trailed with 1,401 votes.
INEC reported that out of 2,788,864 registered voters, 598,229 were accredited to vote. The total number of valid votes stood at 584,054, while 11,244 votes were rejected, bringing the total votes cast to 595,298.
Soludo, 65, first assumed office as Anambra’s governor in November 2021. Prior to his political career, he served as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria from May 29, 2004, to May 29, 2009, where he was widely recognized for implementing key banking reforms and stabilizing the financial sector.
His re-election is seen as a strong endorsement of his governance and development agenda, which has focused on infrastructure, education, and economic revitalization in Anambra State.
The State Returning Officer and Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin, Omoregie Edoba, announced Soludo as the winner of Saturday’s election after the collation of results from the local government areas of the state where the election was held.
“I hereby declare that Soludo Chukwuma Charles of the APGA, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected,” Edoba told a gathering at the state headquarters of INEC in Awka, the state capital, where the election results were collated.