President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated the Governor of Anambra State, Willy Obiano, on his re-election on Saturday, November 18. The Nigerian leader also hailed the people of Anambra state for conducting themselves peacefully during and after the poll.
In the same vein, the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties, CNPP, has saluted the Igbos of Anambra state for defying the threat posed by the proscribed militant group, the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, and carrying out their governorship election successfully last Saturday. The CNPP also “commended INEC for maintaining proven fairness and impartiality all through the process and the declaration of the incumbent governor, Chief Willie Obiano, as the duly elected governor of the state.”
A statement by the CNPP Secretary-General, Mr. Willy Ezugwu, urged INEC to sustain the “level-playing field it ensured in Anambra State up till 2019 and beyond”. Mr. Ezugwu said: “For us, the people have spoken and the voice of the people is loud and clear in Anambra State. We urge the candidates to continue to embrace themselves, even now that the election is over. We rejoice with Governor Willie Obiano on his re-election for a second tenure. We urge him to use this opportunity to build lasting bridges and extend a warm hand of fellowship to his brothers and sisters who contested against him. This is with a view to harmonizing the huge human and material resources in the state maximally in his next four years, in order to do more for Anambra people.
The CNPP commended all security agencies for maintaining law and order and for non-interference, advising them to “extend the same neutrality to the 2019 general election, to deepen democracy in the country”. It added: “There is hope for all political parties ahead of the 2019 election, if the security agencies can maintain the level of maturity and professionalism displayed.” Awka, the Anambra State capital, erupted in wild jubilation yesterday as news broke that the incumbent, Willie Obiano, had won Saturday’s governorship election.
Results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) showed that Obiano, who ran on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), beat his closet rivals, Tony Nwoye of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Oseloka Obaze of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by wide margins.
INEC’s Returning officer and Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Prof. Zana Akpabio, disclosed that APGA secured a total of about 234,071 votes to beat the APC, which had 98,752 and PDP 70,293. He stated that 422,314 votes were valid while 26,457 were rejected. Total votes cast were 448,771.
Results from INEC’s collation officers also showed that Governor Obiano won in the 21 local government areas of the state.
In spite of threats by the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, the election was devoid of violence, ballot snatching or intimidation. Many who witnessed the process commended the level of security, and maturity of the electorate.
There was great tension that the results would be rigged. But all the local government results were the same as declared by INEC officials. The country’s electoral process is gradually reaching the stage where the people will choose their leaders by their votes.
