The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the just
concluded Anambra Governorship Election, Valentine Ozigbo, on Wednesday,
conceded defeat and congratulated the winner and candidate of the All
Progressives Grand Alliance, Chukwuma Soludo.
Soludo, 61, won with 112,229 votes beating Ozigbo, who
polled 53,807 votes, and Andy Uba of the All Progressives Congress who got
43,285 votes. Ifeanyi Ubah of the Young Progressive Party polled 21,261 votes
came fourth.
Ozigbo, in a statement on Wednesday, said he “just called
Professor Chukwuma Soludo and congratulated him on being declared the winner of
the Anambra State governorship elections, 2021. I wished him well and prayed
for his success.”
The statement was titled, ‘PDP’s Valentine Ozigbo
congratulates Soludo, delivers a Thank You Message to Ndi Anambra’.
As of the time of filing this report, the APC and YPP
candidates have not admitted defeat in the election.
Soludo won 19 of the 21 local governments while Ozigbo and
Ubah won one each.
‘INEC presented
poorly trained staff’
While appreciating his supporters for the determination,
Ozigbo alleged that the election was fraught with many shortcomings, adding
that the Independent National Electoral Commission presented poorly trained
staff.
“This election was fraught with a lot of shortcomings on the
part of various government institutions. The security agencies failed to
provide a peaceful environment for campaigns to hold. On election day, they
were absent from many polling centres leading to elections not holding or held
in situations that allowed for chaos and fraud.
“The national
electoral commission presented untrained and poorly trained staff who could not
operate the voting machines in many places. They failed woefully in providing
logistical support for their staff and so elections started very late in many
places and did not hold in many others.
“The use of government funds and resources to corrupt,
coerce, and intimidate voters, PDP party agents, and electoral officials was a
major factor in determining the outcome of this election.
“All of these led to the disenfranchisement of the greater percentage
of voters and staining the course of democracy. I will be dedicating time to
champion the positive change we need to ensure that future elections are truly
free and fair and that the will of the electorate prevails.
“Denominational politics was also a factor. We need to do a
lot more to ensure that competence is never sacrificed on this altar and that
democracy is practised in line with its truest tenets.
“In all, I am more determined to work for a better future
for our children by remaining in active politics and rebuilding our party to be
more united and more robust for those who come after us. Ka Anambra Chawapu,”
he said.
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