Former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Prof Chukwuma Soludo who has just been declared winner of the Anambra Governorship Election by the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) has dedicated his victory to the three policemen who were killed when gunmen attempted to assassinate him in the heat of the electioneering campaigns.
In April 2021, during the build-up to the election, the APGA candidate narrowly escaped death when gunmen attempted to kill him and his security aides during a town hall meeting in his hometown in Isuofia in the Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra.
Three of his police orderlies were killed during the attack which he later described as “senseless”.
In his acceptance speech immediately after he was declared the winner on Wednesday, Prof. Soludo dedicated his victory to the three policemen.
Soludo, who was the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria between 2004 and 2009, was declared winner after the November 6 election was declared inconclusive by INEC and a supplementary election was held in the Ihiala Local Government Area of the state on Tuesday.
He won 19 of the 21 local governments areas including Ihiala LGA.
Sixty one-year-old Soludo won with 112,229 votes beating Valentine Ozigbo of the Peoples Democratic Party, who polled 53,807 votes, and Andy Uba of the All Progressives Congress who got 43,285 votes. Ifeanyi Ubah of the Young Progressive Party polled 21,261 votes came fourth.
However, Soludo’s victory was not on a platter as several challenges including legal battles and intra-party squabbles littered the way.
The Supreme Court in Abuja affirmed him APGA governorship candidate after the court had sacked the former APGA candidate, Chukwuma Umeoji, a current member of the House of Representatives representing Aguata Federal Constituency in Anambra State whose name was formerly listed by the Independent National Electoral Commission as APGA’s candidate.
The court then ordered INEC to replace Umeoji with Soludo as the validly elected candidate of APGA for the governorship election.
Soludo is expected to be sworn into office next March after the expiration of the two-term tenure of the incumbent governor, Willie Obiano, who is also of the All Progressives Grand Alliance.
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