The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has issued a certificate of return to the Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, following his re-election.
INEC also issued a certificate of return to his deputy, Onyekachukwu Ibezim.
The certificates were presented to them by the supervising INEC National Commissioner in charge of the Anambra State election, Kenneth Ukeagu, in Akwa, the state capital, on Tuesday.
This came two days after Soludo and his deputy were declared winners of the poll by the electoral body.
Ukeagu said the presentation marked the end of the democratic process, as a symbol of the trust and confidence the people of Anambra have reposed in the governor.
He urged Soludo to continue with impactful leadership.
He said Section 72(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 mandates the INEC to issue a certificate of return within 14 days to every candidate who has been duly returned by the returning officer under the Act.
“In compliance with this statutory provision, I have the honour and privilege, in my capacity as the Supervising National Electoral Commissioner of the Anambra State governorship election, to present the certificates of return to the Governor and the Deputy Governor-elect, who emerged victorious in the just-concluded governorship election,” he said.
Soludo, who was accompanied by his wife, Nonye, and his children, commended INEC for the conduct of the election.
He also thanked his residents and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) for their support.
The governor said that with the renewed mandate, Anambra State would experience accelerated development across all sectors.
The State Returning Officer and Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin, Edoba Omoregie, declared Soludo as the winner of the exercise after the collation of results from the local government areas of the state where the election was held.
According to the results announced by INEC in the early hours of Sunday, Soludo won by a landslide in the 21 local government areas of the South-East state.
He said Soludo, the candidate of APGA, secured 422,664 votes.
INEC stated that Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) polled 99,445 votes.
Paul Chukwuma of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) came third with 37,753 votes, while John Nwosu of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) scored 8,208 votes.
George Moghalu of the Labour Party (LP) and Jude Ezenwafor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scored 10,576 votes and 1,401 votes, respectively.
The electoral umpire said that out of a total number of 2,788,864 registered voters, 598,229 were accredited for the election.
It also said that of the total number of 595,298 votes cast in the election, 584,054 were valid while 11,244 were rejected.
According to INEC, 16 political parties participated in the election.
According to the results announced by INEC in the early hours of Sunday, Soludo won by a landslide in the 21 local government areas of the South-East state.
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