Governor Chukwuma Soludo has been elected as the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) for the governorship election in the state that comes up in November.
Soon after his victory, Soludo re-nominated his Deputy, Dr Onyekachukwu Ibezim, as his running mate for the November 8th gubernatorial election in Anambra State.
The party held its governorship primary election yesterday at the Alex Ekwueme Square, in Awka, where Soludo stood as the only aspirant of the party.
Announcing the results, the Returning Officer for the election, Hon Uche Nwegbo said: “Total delegates for this election is 3,260. 3,175 are accredited delegates and 3,172 is the total votes, while four votes were invalid.
“The total yes-votes garnered by the governor is 3,168, while there were no, no-votes.
“So, in line with the INEC guidelines and with the powers conferred on me as the chief returning officer for this election, I, Uche Nwegbo, hereby declare the governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, as returned, as the candidate of our party.”
Soludo, in his acceptance speech, said that he would continue to work hard to ensure that he did not fail members of the party or the people of Anambra State.
He said: “We, as a party, have grown from strength to strength. We are the first registered progressive party in Nigeria and our people have taken APGA as their own. Anambra is APGA and APGA is Anambra.
“I want to say that I am humbled by this historic display of solidarity to be able to the fly the flag of our party again and I want to say that I accept this nomination wholeheartedly
“Anambra keeps rising with the progressive leadership that we have had through APGA, and I will continue to appreciate the leadership of the party
“I appreciate the members of our party and the INEC observers. I do not think that we have ever had this kind of peaceful election where everything was orderly and in one hour, everyone was able to cast their votes”
“In 2021, Anambra interviewed all the candidates and employed me, and all through the journey, three years down the line, you have been able to give us support”
“That is why we have been able to do what we do, which people say is magical. We are doing this without borrowing one Naira and I know we will continue us to do even more and we continue to ask for your prayers
“We are only at the introductory stage. Anambra has not seen anything yet. I appreciate citizens, captains of industries, who have been supporting us and we will keep growing higher and higher.
“I appreciate the support groups, especially all that endorsed us for a second term. They are still coming up with more donations to the campaigns, and I thank those market women who are still eager to donate to our campaign. Many political parties have declared support for us and never in Anambra State have we ever had a consensus like what we have today.
“When I took oath of office, I promised not to let Anambra down, not to let my supporters down, not to let my family down, and not to let APGA down. We are working 24/7 to ensure that. Many people have said we do not have any opposition, but I say that we will not only win all the 21 local government but the 326 wards. Someone said we should even aim for all the polling units in the state. We want to make a statement.”
The governor also announced his running mate Dr Onyekachukwu immediately, choosing his deputy for the race.
