The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has officially declared Charles Chukwuma Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) the winner of Saturday’s governorship election in Anambra State, reaffirming his position as the state’s governor for a second term.
In the early morning hours of Sunday, the state returning officer, Prof. Edogah Omoregie, announced that Soludo secured a total of 422,664 votes, far ahead of his closest rival, Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who polled 99,445 votes. Other contenders included the Young Progressives Party (YPP) candidate, who gathered 37,753 votes, and candidates from the Labour Party (LP) and African Democratic Congress (ADC) who got 10,576 and 8,208 respectively.
In a decisive showing, Soludo won in all 21 local government areas of Anambra State, cementing a dominant presence across the state.
Observers described the election as largely peaceful and orderly, applauding the deployment of voters’ accreditation devices and the prompt uploading of results. At the same time, some civil-society monitors noted isolated cases of vote-buying and delayed polling in certain units.
Governor Soludo, an economist and former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, thanked the electorate, commended the INEC staff, and extended an olive branch to his rivals. This victory now sets the stage for him to serve until 2030 under the APGA banner.
With his re-election secured, attention now turns to how Soludo will deliver on key state priorities — including improving infrastructure, curbing insecurity, and boosting economic opportunities for Anambrarians.