The state of Anambra’s off-season governorship election has passed. Not only that, but the election turned out to be among the easiest in the state’s history for the governorship, with many people predicting Soludo’s victory long before it actually happened.
Nearly two years ago, preparations for the State Governorship Election began with growing resistance, initially from the late Senator Ifeanyi Ubah and subsequently from other opposition leaders who repeatedly uttered the phrase “remove Soludo.”
Opposition politicians continued to be adamant about their intention to remove Soludo despite efforts that were enthusiastically praised by both high-profile and common people. They even used tragedies as campaign tactics.
It wasn’t a happy time for Soludo either, as the state’s instability caused it to make headlines for the wrong reasons every little while.
For instance, while Soludo was working on groundbreaking projects, such as building roads in areas of the state where none had previously existed, revitalizing primary, secondary, and tertiary healthcare facilities, and reintroducing pipe-borne water, negligent incidents, such as the murder of a state indigenous person by renegades, the abuse of locals by local security, or even an altercation between tax collectors and an individual, were escalated to discredit the governor.
Unfortunately for Soludo, he took office as governor during a period when criminals disguising themselves as freedom fighters had exploited the sympathy of marginalization to gain support, causing havoc in some areas of the state and annexing areas to themselves. Early this year, Soludo introduced the new Anambra Homeland Security Law after realizing that the hoodlums’ actions were hurting his efforts in the state. He then established Agunechemba and Udogachi, a joint military operation.
One could argue that the governor is fully aware of when and how to launch an attack. Although many Anambra people applauded him for solving the crime and saving many towns from the clutches of murderers, his opponents were not satisfied despite the fact that the actions of criminals disguising themselves as separatists preceded his term. Every unpleasant episode increased and became a national problem, but fortunately for the governor, the Anambra people remained loyal to him after realizing how different his actions were from those of others.
Even when Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, his main opponent, eventually passed away, others persisted in calling him a one-term governor. “Mine is an agenda with a deadline,” Soludo insisted while maintaining his attention and working. I submitted a bid and was recruited by the Anambra people. He often stated, “They are the only ones who can keep me on.” Combining his campaign with his work in the office, Soludo insisted that his job should never be compromised because he was running for reelection.
During the election, Soludo faced challenges from fifteen different parties, religious groups, and regional backgrounds; nonetheless, he remained steadfast in his job, campaign, and religion. Soludo continued to be the only contender to conduct campaign visits to each of the state’s 179 municipalities. Even more fascinating was the fact that the indigenous people in every place he visited were anxious to praise him and show off the significant projects he completed for them. When communities started contributing to Soludo’s election funding, his acceptability became evident. Citing his ability to rule, each community he visited contributed tens of millions of dollars to support his reelection. This was in contrast to what was typically possible, where communities wait for politicians to give them money in order to buy their support.
As anticipated, the Anambra people loudly voiced their support for Soludo in last Saturday’s election. When announcing the election’s outcome, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) used strong language. Professor Edoba B. Omoregie (SAN), the vice chancellor of the University of Benin and state collation officer, revealed the election’s official results. “There are 2,788,864 registered voters in the state, and there are 598,229 accredited voters for the election that took place on Saturday,” he declared.
Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, the APGA candidate, received the highest score of 422,664 in the election, according to Omoregie. Three of his rivals, Ukachukwu of the APC with a score of 99,445, Paul Chukwuma of the YPP with a score of 37,753, Moghalu of the LP with a score of 10,576, and Nwosu of the ADC with a score of 8,208, trailed far behind Soludo, who received 73 percent of the total votes cast. After calculating the results, Omoregie claimed that 10,481 voters in all were impacted in regions where there had been conflicts. However, he added that the numbers did not match the number of votes between the front-runner and the runner-up, stating that the margin had no bearing on the winner.
Omoregie declared Soludo to be re-elected, saying, “I hereby certify that I am the returning officer of the election, and I also certify that the election was contested and a winner emerged.” I officially proclaim Soludo Charles Chukwuma elected after he met all legal requirements and received the most votes. I should also mention that the winner received the necessary votes from two thirds of the local government. The candidate received two thirds in each of the state’s twenty-one local government areas.
Soludo has acknowledged his victory and offered support to the other candidates who ran against him on Saturday, thus the election is already a given. As a democrat, the governor also commended President Bola Tinubu for letting the people’s will triumph out. In the border town of Owerre Ezukala, he also grieved for one of his followers, a council member who was shot and killed just after casting his ballot.
“This is a moment to say congratulations to Anambra People,” the governor told reporters at his rural home in Isuofia, Aguata Local Government Area. We were elected four years ago with 112,000 votes, but this time you made a big impact with 73% of the total. This is a strong declaration and a demonstration of solidarity. We won all 21 local governments and lost just six of the 326 wards, which is a pretty clear signal. We are moving forward into gear four in collaboration with individuals at all levels of the state. We are transitioning to gear four from what is essentially gear three. We are grateful to the Anambra people for keeping us on board. We express our gratitude to Mr. President, who has shown himself to be an excellent democrat. Thank you to the new INEC chairman. As they say, you don’t get another chance to make an impression, and this election has demonstrated that. It was his first appearance. Anambra is improving with each election year.
“I believe the election was highly free, fair, and credible with a few exceptions. I express my gratitude to INEC’s ICT department since, as of last night, they had uploaded up to 99 percent of the results, and we already knew the outcome of the poll. I tell my brothers, who were also competitors, that there will undoubtedly only be one winner out of the sixteen of us. Even though we’ve had fun and gotten into arguments, we’ll still get together at events on the weekends to share drinks the Anambra way. We will collaborate to improve Anambra, and I offer you a hand in leadership. In my opinion, we will work for the Anambra people, and every second counts. Our task has a deadline.
Many have said that Soludo’s victory was well-deserved and that he performed well both throughout his campaign and during his first term. All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) national chairman Sly Ezeokenwa declared, “This victory is quite deserving.” The governor put a lot of effort into it, going to every village to solicit votes. We didn’t find it surprising,” he remarked.
