At last! The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Chukwuma Soludo, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as the winner of the Anambra governorship election.
On Wednesday, Florence Obi, returning officer for the state, announced the results from 21 LGAs.
Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) secured 112,229 votes to defeat his two major rivals — Valentine Ozigbo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who got 53,807 votes, and Andy Uba of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who secured 43,285 votes.
Ifeanyi Ubah of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) came fourth with 21,261 votes.
Soludo, the governor-elect, won in 19 LGAs out of the 21 LGAs in Anambra, while Ozigbo and Ifeanyi Ubah won in one LGA each.
IHIALA LGA — THE TWIST OF THE ANAMBRA ELECTION
On Monday, after announcing the results of election in 20 LGAs in Anambra, INEC suspended collation of results.
Obi said the decision to suspend the collation of results is to give room for a supplementary election in Ihiala LGA.
Ahmadu Umar, the collation officer for Ihiala LGA, had earlier said there was no election in the entire area.
The results from 20 LGAs showed that Soludo secured 103,946 votes, followed by Ozigbo with 51,322 votes, and Andy Uba 42,942.
The margin between Soludo and Ozigbo stood at 52,624, and with 148,407 registered voters in Ihiala, there was still something to fight for.
Some political analysts had argued that Ihiala LGA might swing the tide in the election in favour of any of the three leading candidates.
At the end of the supplementary election, Soludo polled 8,283 votes, with a margin of over 5,000 votes to defeat Ozigbo in Ihiala.
In every election, there are winners and losers, TheCable highlights the winners and losers of the Anambra governorship election.
WINNERS
APGA
APGA is clearly the winner of the election. The election was a test of the party’s popularity in the state. Out of the 36 states of the federation, Anambra is the only state being led by APGA. If APGA had lost the election that might have signalled the end of the party.
But with the party winning the election, it will further cement its hold on Anambra.
Chukwuma Soludo
Soludo, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), finally reached the highest position in his state, after his third time contesting.
In 2010, Soludo contested the election on the platform of the PDP, but he came third as Peter Obi, then of APGA, won the election.
In 2021, Soludo contested on the platform of APGA after a series of legal battles on his nomination and leadership of the party.
It took the intervention of the appeal court and the affirmation of the supreme court before the electoral commission included Soludo’s name in the candidates’ list.
INEC declared Soludo as governor-elect of Anambra on Wednesday.
Wille Obiano
Obiano, the outgoing governor of the state, has succeeded in ensuring that his party retained the governorship seat of the state.
In addition, he has also succeeded in bringing to power a candidate he anointed in the election.
LOSERS
Andy Uba
Uba, candidate of the APC, again lost the opportunity to become the governor of Anambra state. The former senator is not a new face in the politics of Anambra.
In 2007, Uba was ”elected” as the governor of Anambra state on the platform of the PDP, but he was removed by the supreme court, a few weeks after he was sworn in as governor.
Peter Obi had approached the court that his tenure was not over as the governor of the state before INEC conducted the 2007 governorship election, since he was initially recognised by the court as governor in 2006 in an election conducted in 2003.
In 2010, Uba again contested for the governorship seat on the platform of the Labour Party but lost to Obi.
Will this be the end of Uba in the politics of Anambra? Only time will tell.
Valentine Ozigbo
Ozigbo, former chief executive officer of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc — Transcorp — lost his first shot at the governorship seat of Anambra.
But the banker won one LGA — Ogbaru.
Nkem Okeke
When Okeke, deputy governor of Anambra, defected to the APC from APGA in October, he might have thought that the APC would win the governorship election. But the outcome of the election did not favour his party.
What next for the deputy governor?
Stella Oduah
In August, Oduah, senator representing Anambra north, defected to the APC from the PDP.
The defection of the senator was celebrated by the national leadership of the APC.
With less than three months to the Anambra election when she defected, the APC might have hoped that her membership of the party would favour the chances of the party in the election.
Defying high hopes, Oduah could not win her local government — Ogbaru — for the APC.
Hope Uzodinma
Although Uzodinma is the governor of Imo state, he led the APC governorship campaign in Anambra.
In the build-up to the election, Uzodinma said the APC is an “enviable brand” that will be easy to sell in Anambra, saying the party will win the election.
The Imo governor sold the “enviable brand” of the APC to the people of Anambra, but it appears that majority of them did not buy it.
APC
The quest of the APC to win another state in the south-east region ended in futility.
The ruling party was hoping to shore up its political base in the south-east region, from two governors — Ebonyi and Imo — to three with the Anambra election.
In 2019, the APC had no governor in the south-east but with the supreme court verdict on the Imo election in January 2020, Uzodinma of the APC became the governor of Imo, and in November 2020, Umahi defected to the APC from the PDP.
APGA defectors
In the build-up to the election, some members of APGA including Chukwuma Umeoji, member of the house of representatives representing Aguata constituency, joined the APC.
With the APC losing the election in Anambra, what is the political fate of the defectors?
By Ayodele Oluwafemi/TheCable
