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Gov-elect extends olive branch to losers
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PDP candidate concedes defeat
By Muideen Olaniyi, Itodo Daniel Sule, Saawua Terzungwe, Idowu Isamotu (Abuja), Titus Eleweke (Awka), Bassey Willie (Yenagoa) & Raphael Ogbonnaiye (Ado-Ekiti)
The All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate for the just concluded Anambra Governorship election, Senator Andy Uba have kept mum on the outcome of the poll over 24hours after declaration of a winner.
This is even as President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo, candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), on his victory at the poll. Soludo defeated Uba and 16 other contenders to win the election.
The president, in a statement issued by his spokesman, Femi Adesina, enjoined him to rally other stakeholders to tackle the enormous challenges confronting the state and the South East in general.
Buhari said he looked forward to working with the incoming governor, who is a member of the Presidential Economic Advisory Committee, for the peace, security and development of not only Anambra State but the entire country.
He lauded security agencies for their determination to ensure that the election went on as smoothly as possible, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the successful conclusion of the exercise despite initial challenges.
Also congratulating Soludo, the speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, said with his antecedents as an accomplished professional, he believed the Anambra governor-elect would bring his experience and expertise to bear.
In a congratulatory letter he signed on Wednesday, Gbajabiamila also congratulated the people of Anambra State on the successful conduct of the election.
On his part, Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, said democracy was the real winner at the Anambra election with the successful and peaceful conduct of the exercise.
Similarly, the wife of the late Biafran leader, Mrs Bianca Ojukwu, has commended Anambra people for keeping faith in her husband’s legacy by voting for APGA during the poll.
Bianca, who had on the eve of the election invoked the spirit of her late husband to lead APGA to victory, expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the election, commending residents for making it violence-free.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said that the people of Anambra State have put the enemies of democracy, who were initially hell-bent to disrupt the poll to shame by coming out to vote.
President of NLC, Ayuba Wabba, in a statement, maintained that given the dare-devil desperation invested in the run-up to the election, it is a relief to many that the election eventually took place and a winner emerged.
Soludo extends olive branch to losers
Hours after he was declared winner, yesterday, Soludo appealed to those who contested against him to keep the spirit of Anambra alive.
In his acceptance speech, Soludo said his emergence as governor was divine and others should respect that, adding that reflects the supreme will of the almighty God and an overwhelming sacred mandate of the people.
“For 12 years since the massive clamour by the people of Anambra for us to serve them, we persevered to this divine moment. This is a divine journey whose time has come. To God be all the glory and adoration,” he said.
He said those who contested against him should join him in the spirit of Anambra to move the state forward, noting that the ultimate winners are Anambra people and everybody is a winner.
PDP candidate concedes defeat
Candidate of the PDP, Mr. Valentine Ozigbo, has congratulated Soludo for emerging victorious in the election.
Ozigbo, in a statement he signed, said he had phoned Soludo to congratulate him over his victory at the poll. The PDP candidate who came second in the poll, prayed for the success of Soludo.
He, however, picked holes in the conduct of the election, alleging that security agencies failed to provide a peaceful environment for campaigns to hold in the state.
Contacted, the APC Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Yekini Nabena, told Daily Trust that the party was waiting for its candidate to report to it about what he intends to do before a particular line of action would be taken.
