- Safiu Kehinde
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has presented Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, and his deputy, Onyekachukwu Ibezim, their certificates of return following the re-election victory at the Saturday’s gubernatorial election.
NPO Reported that Soludo was on Sunday declared winner of the election despite the controversies surrounding its conduct, particularly on reported cases of vote buying.
Soludo however won the poll with a total of 422,664 votes to defeat his closest rival and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu, who scored 99,445 votes, while the candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), Paul Chukwuma, garnered 37,753 votes to place third.
Sequel to the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidates’ victory, the certificates were on Tuesday presented to them by the Supervising INEC National Commissioner in charge of the Anambra State election, Kenneth Ikeagu.
This, according to report, officially confirmed Soludo and Ibezim as the re-elected Governor and Deputy Governor of Anambra State.
In his address, Ikeagu held that the presentation of the certificate to Soludo and Ibezim was in accordance with the Section 72 (2) f the Electoral Act, 2022.
“We are here to present the certificates of return to the Governor and Deputy Governor of Anambra State, following their successful outing during the state governorship election held on Saturday, November 8, 2025.
“Section 72(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 mandates the Independent National Electoral Commission to issue a certificate of return within 14 days to every candidate who has been duly returned by the returning officer under the Act.
“In compliance with this statutory provision, I have the honour and privilege, in my capacity as the Supervising National Electoral Commissioner of the Anambra State governorship election, to present the certificates of return to the Governor and the Deputy Governor-elect, who emerged victorious in the just-concluded governorship election.” He declared.