The ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has won last Saturday’s governorship election in Anambra State.
The APGA candidate and incumbent governor Willie Obiano defeated the candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Tony Nwoye; the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Oseloka Obaze; the United Progressive Party (UPP), Osita Chidoka, and 32 others in all the 21 local government areas (LGAs).
Announcing the results, the state returning officer, who is the Vice-Chancellor of University of Calabar, Prof. Zara Akpan, said Governor Obiano polled 234,071 votes to defeat the APC candidate Nwoye who got 98, 752 votes, while the PDP candidate Obaze came a distant third with 70,293 votes.
Governor Obiano, in his acceptance speech, said the victory belonged to the people of Anambra.
The governor, who extended a hand of brotherhood to his fellow contestants, enjoined them to work with him to build a better place.
He thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for keeping to his promise to ensure a free and fair election, the INEC for conducting a transparent poll, and the security agencies whose alertness ensured that the expressed will of the people was not thwarted.
Reacting to the outcome of the election, the Deputy Senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, congratulated Governor Obiano on his victory in a statement by his media aide, Uche Anichukwu.
Ekweremadu called on Governor Obiano to reach out to his political opponents and also recruit the best hands to move Anambra State forward, irrespective of their political leanings.
Also reacting yesterday, Senator Joseph Waku congratulated President Buhari over the successful conduct of the election in Anambra State.
The senator, who spoke to our reporter on telephone yesterday, said that the election had confirmed that President Buhari is a true democrat who believed in the conduct of free and fair elections.
The senator also commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for allowing the process to go smoothly and remained neutral throughout the voting and collation process.
The Ekiti State governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, also hailed the conduct of the election, describing the performance of the INEC and security agencies
as above average and a sign that the electoral umpire was listening to the cries of Nigerians for a return to the legacy of free, fair and credible elections inherited by the APC government.
Fayose, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, said; “Even though there were reports of malfunctioning of card readers, number of votes exceeding number of accredited voters and pockets of violence as well as buying of votes, the Anambra governorship election was better than others conducted by INEC under the present government of APC.”
