Oshiomhole hails APC candidate, Uba, for ‘good showing’ in Anambra election

Adams Oshiomhole, the immediate past National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, has congratulated his party’s candidate in the November 6 Governorship Election in Anambra, Andy Uba, for making a “good showing” in the poll.

The former Governor of Edo State also hailed the winner of the keenly contested election and governor-elect, Chukwuma Soludo.

The APC chieftain made this known in a statement signed by his Media Aide, Victor Oshioke, on Friday. The statement was titled, ‘Oshiomhole congratulates Soludo for winning Anambra State Governorship Election’.

The former party chairman was quoted as saying, “Dear Prof. Charles Soludo, I congratulate you on your victory in the Anambra governorship election concluded recently. It is indeed a victory richly deserved given your impressive antecedents.

“Now that the election is over, the expectations of Anambra people are understandably high especially because of your rich background. You, therefore, have a unique opportunity to raise the bar in politics and governance to meet the aspirations of Anambra people.

“I pray that God give you good health, better understanding, wisdom, vision and more courage to build on the foundation laid by your predecessors to take Anambra State to an enviable level”

“May I also use this medium to congratulate my friend Dr. Andy Uba of the All Progressives Congress and Valentine Ozigbo of the Peoples Democratic Party for their good showing in the election. Democracy thrives best when there is healthy contestation and credible alternatives for the people to choose from. They both provided that choice creditably.

“Finally, I congratulate the good people of Anambra State for peacefully expressing their political preferences, thus further deepening democracy in our environment. It is my hope that the choice they freely and collectively made at the polls ultimately translates into a better life for them in the future.”

Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance won with 112,229 votes beating Valentine Ozigbo of the Peoples Democratic Party, who polled 53,807 votes, and Uba of APC who got 43,285 votes. Ifeanyi Ubah of the Young Progressive Party who polled 21,261 votes came fourth.

While Soludo won 19 local government areas, Ozigbo and Ubah won one each. The APC candidate, however, did not win any of the local government areas in the South-East state.

The candidates of the PDP and YPP have since congratulated Soludo but the APC candidate was yet to concede defeat and has rejected the outcome of the poll. He had also served notice of his intention to challenge Soludo up to the Supreme Court.

During the buildup to the election, some aggrieved members of APGA including a former candidate, Chukwuma Umeoji, had defected to the APC after the Supreme Court in Abuja sacked him and affirmed Soludo as APGA governorship candidate.

Also, the incumbent deputy governor of Anambra State, Nkem Okeke, had defected to the ruling party from APGA.

Many observers had thought the APC would pull some weight in the election as some political juggernauts left their camp for the ruling party but the APC candidate failed to win a local government in the 21 LGAs in Anambra.