Governor of Anambra State, Chukwuma Soludo, has expressed confidence in his victory in the ongoing governorship election, insisting that no amount of vote buying will alter the outcome.
Gatekeepers News reports that speaking shortly after casting his vote at polling unit 002, Umuezeadigo Street, in his hometown of Isuofia, Aguata LGA, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate said the election had been largely peaceful, though a few polling units encountered minor BVAS malfunctions.
He said, “I got a report from Orumba South that the BVAS wasn’t working as expected. But all said and done, I think, on the average, it is going on smoothly.”
Soludo commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for its handling of the process, describing the exercise as calm and orderly.
He, however, raised concerns over reports of widespread vote buying in parts of the state, particularly in the southern area, where a rival candidate was allegedly distributing ₦15,000 per voter.
Soludo said, “I said even if they share ₦100,000, never mind. Let the people just vote and count the votes. It doesn’t matter for us.”
The Governor maintained that his confidence in the electoral process remained firm, stating that once votes were counted fairly, APGA would record a landslide victory.
He added, “We’re fairly convinced that on the basis of the votes — one man, one vote — we are going to win and win landslide.”
Soludo described the voting exercise in his unit as seamless but observed that many voters were still waiting in line around 1:30 pm. He noted that everyone present before the official closing time would be allowed to vote.
He said, “The rule is that once you are in the polling unit before 2:30 pm, you must vote. I expect that all these people will vote before the end of the process.”
When asked about voter turnout, the Governor said it was too early to make an assessment. “How can I know the number of turnouts when voting is still ongoing? You can only know when voting closes and the votes are counted,” he said.
Soludo dismissed claims that APGA had been complacent during the campaign, asserting that his party remained the only one that visited all 21 local government areas and 326 wards across the state.
He further alleged that one opposition party planned to manipulate results during the collation process, saying, “One party, I don’t want to mention the candidate, their only strategy is that they have written results which they want to swap during collation.”
“They were even telling polling agents not to fill the result sheets properly or upload the results on IReV so that they can manipulate the process.”
Despite the allegations, Soludo expressed faith in the transparency of the system and the vigilance of Anambra citizens.
He did, “Our people are vigilant, organised and united. We’ll follow the process from the polling unit to the state collation centre, and once the system works, we’ll win all 21 local governments.”
