ANAMBRA GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION OUTCOME REFLECTS PEOPLE'S WILL - US

The United States Government has hailed the outcome of the just concluded 2021 Anambra State Governorship Election.

This was contained in a statement from the US Mission in Nigeria, titled, Statement on the concluded Anambra State gubernatorial election on Wednesday. The US government said the outcome of the

election reflected the will of the people

Mon daries had reported that a former Governor of Central Bank and candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, prof. Chukwuma Soludu, won the November 6 governorship election in Anambra.

The statement read, "The United States government congratulates the citizens of Anambra State for the peaceful conduct of the gubernatorial election on November 6, the outcome of which reflects the will of the people.

"We note the tremendous challenges faced by INEC and security force personnel on the ground and commend the efforts that led to a secure election with a credible outcome."

"We also applaud the engagement from our civic society partners for their tireless advocacy on behalf of voters and electoral transparency."

"We look forward to continued improvements in the electoral process as the country heads into gubernatorial elections in Osun and Ekiti in 2022 and national elections in 2023."

The Independent National Electoral Commission declared Soludo the winner after polling a total of 112,229 votes to defeat his closest rival, Mr Valentine Ozigbo of the Peoples Democratic Party who scored 53, 807.

Senator Andy Uba of the All Progressives Congress candidate sot a total of 43, 285 votes to emerge the third position.

INEC suspended collation of results late Sunday night and declared the exercise inconclusive following non-conduct of election in Ihiala local Government Area.

The commission, however, fixed Tuesday November 9 for supplementary election in Ihiala.

Prof. Florence Obi, Returning Officer for 2021 Anambra Governorship election, while announcing the final result, noted that after adding up the results collated from Ihiala, Soludo continued his lead in the election.