Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, has expressed confidence that he is going to win the state governorship election despite the amount of vote-buying going on with other political parties participating in the election.
Soludo also expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the ongoing governorship election in the state, describing it as largely peaceful and orderly despite minor technical hitches at some polling stations.
Speaking shortly after casting his vote at Polling Unit 002, Umuezeadigo Street, in his hometown, Isuofia community, Aguata Local Government Area, Soludo said reports reaching him from various parts of the state indicated that voting was progressing smoothly.
According to him, while some areas experienced slight glitches with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials had responded swiftly to address the problems.
“I received information that in some places like Orumba South, the BVAS machines were initially malfunctioning, but those issues were quickly attended to,” the governor said.
“Overall, I can say the process has been peaceful and credible so far.”
Soludo, who is seeking re-election on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), lauded INEC for what he described as an impressive performance compared to past exercises.
However, the governor expressed concern about alleged incidents of vote buying in a few locations within the southern part of the state.
“We’ve heard troubling reports that a particular candidate is distributing as much as ₦15,000 per voter just to secure one local government,” he revealed.
“But even if they raise it to ₦100,000, it won’t change the will of the people. What matters is that votes must be cast and counted transparently.”
He maintained that APGA would secure a convincing victory once the votes were properly tallied.
“We are confident that with a free, fair, and credible process, APGA will emerge victorious across the 21 local governments,” Soludo declared.
At his polling unit, the governor observed that the process was “quite seamless,” although some voters were still waiting to cast their ballots as of 1:30 p.m.
He emphasised that everyone in the queue before the official closing time would be allowed to vote.
“The rule is clear, if you’re in line before 2:30 p.m., you must vote,” he said. “I believe everyone here will exercise their franchise before the close of polls.”
When asked about voter turnout, Soludo said it was premature to judge participation while voting was still ongoing.
“Turnout can only be determined after the process ends and the ballots are counted,” he added.
Responding to claims that his party was complacent during the campaign, Soludo dismissed the allegations, stressing that APGA had campaigned vigorously across all parts of the state.
“We visited all 21 local governments and 326 wards. I can boldly say no other party matched our level of engagement,” he noted. “Our campaign was about connecting with the people, not noise-making.”
The governor also accused a rival political party of plotting to manipulate the election results during the collation stage.
“One particular party’s strategy is to tamper with results by preventing proper entry on result sheets or delaying uploads on the IReV portal,” Soludo alleged.
“They believe they can swap figures at the collation centres, but our people are alert and won’t allow that.”
He expressed optimism that the vigilance of citizens and the transparency of the electoral process would safeguard the integrity of the election.
“Our people are watchful and determined. From the polling units to the state collation centre, we’ll monitor every step,” Soludo said confidently.
“Once the system functions as designed, APGA will win across all local governments.”