Peter Obi Re-elected Anambra State Governor

Peter Obi

All People Grand Alliance Party (APGA) gubernatorial candidate and incumbent governor of Anambra state, Peter Obi has been declared the winner of the governorship elections in Anambra state.

He was declared winner of the election by the resident electoral commissioner of the state, Mr Josiah Uwazuruon on Sunday morning in Awka.

Obi won by a total of 97843 votes, followed closely by Action Congress's candidate, Chris Ngige with 60240 votes, while PDP party flag bearer, Chukwuma Soludo came third with 59365 votes respectively.

Mr. Obi, who ran under the ticket of APGA, comfortably won 13 local government areas.

According to ballot tallies from polling booths across the state, the APGA candidate won in Awka North, Awka South, Orumba South, Onitsha North, Onitsha South, Ogbaru, Njikoka, Ekwusigo, Anambra West, Anaocha, and Nnewi South and two other councils.

Dr. Chris Ngige of the Action Congress (AC) won in four councils, while Professor Chukwuma Soludo (PDP) won in three councils.

Chief Andy Uba (Labour Party) won in one council while Uche Ekwunife (Peoples Progressive Alliance) did not win in any council.

In a stunning blow, Obi trounced Charles Chukwuma Soludo; the candidate of the PDP, in the latter’s local government area.

Obi, who was officially declared winner of the election on Sunday morning by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), later declared at a world press conference later in the day: “As for my brothers and sisters who contested the election with me, I commend them for their patriotism and desire to serve our people. 

“You have no doubt put up a gallant fight. What is most important now is that we remain good brothers and sisters that we have been over the years and join hands in building a better Anambra State for ourselves and our children”.

While his major opponents - Dr. Chris Ngige (Action Congress), Chief Andy Uba (Labour Party) and Soludo - have however protested over the conduct of the election, Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan and the Nigeria Governors Forum have congratulated Obi while the PDP has attributed its loss to "irreconcilable differences" within the party.

The full result announced by the Resident Electoral Commissio-ner (REC) in the state, Mr. Josiah Uwazuronye, showed that Obi of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) polled a total of 97,843 votes to beat his closest rival Ngige who poled 60,240 votes.  Soludo came third with 59,355 and was closely followed by Uba who polled 26,106.

Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu and Mrs. Uche Ekwunife of the Hope Democratic Party (HDP) and Progressives Peoples Alliance (PPA) respectively scored 20,777, and 9,595 votes.  Obi led in 13 out of the 21 local government areas, namely Onitsha North and South, Awka North and South, Ogbaru, Ekwusigo, Aguata, Anambra West, Orumba North and South, Njikoka, Ihiala and Anaocha.  Ngige won in the council areas of Dunukaofia, Nnewi North, Idemili North and South, while Uba won in Ayamelum Local Government Area.

Soludo won in Oyi and Anambra East Local Government Areas. The HDP won in Nnewi south, while the rest of the parties did not make any appreciable impact.  Obi will be sworn in for another four years on March 17 when his current tenure expires.  While declaring Obi the winner, Uwazuronye said he had satisfied all the requirements in the electoral laws.  Reacting to the victory, the APGA National Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh, said he was elated with the victory more especially with the breaking of an age-long jinx that had never seen any governor of the state being re-elected.

At a press conference, leader of the INEC Anambra Election Monitoring Board, Mr. Ikeazor Akaraiwe, said INEC's sensitive materials arrived Awka, the state capital, two days before the election, noting however the discrepancies in the voters' register were very obvious but were not substantial to affect the outcome of the election.  When the board noticed that a lot of people hadn't their names in the registers, Akaraiwe said it took a decision to allow voters with INEC cards to vote.

PDP National Publicity Secretary, Professor Rufai Ahmed Alkali, blamed the Anambra PDP members who were still aggrieved of their refusal to put their house in order and support the party's candidate.

Jonathan, in a statement signed by Ima Niboro, his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, congratulated Obi over his re-election victory. Jonathan also lauded the people of the state for their peaceful conduct during the election, which he described as an indication by Nigerians to make democracy work in the country. 

Said Jonathan: "This was an indication that the electoral reforms of the present administration were beginning to have an effect on the nation's political culture." Obi, in his address, said the election was unique in several respects: "One, it was the only one that was conducted throughout Nigeria yesterday. Two, the entire world literally monitored it either directly or indirectly.