The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the 2025 Anambra governorship election, Jude Ezenwafor, has congratulated Governor Charles Soludo on his victory in Saturday’s poll.
Mr Ezenwafor spoke when he appeared as a guest on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily on Monday.
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PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that the INEC Returning Officer, Edoba Omoregie, said Mr Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance scored 422,664 votes to defeat his closest rival, Nicholas Ukachukwu of the APC, who polled 99,445 votes.
The Young Progressives Party candidate, Paul Chukwuma, came third with 37,753 votes, while his counterpart from the Labour Party, George Moghalu, was fourth, with 10,576 votes.
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‘I agree with the outcome of the election’
Speaking on the TV programme, Mr Ezenwafor said he agreed with the election results declared by INEC on Sunday.
“I quite agree with the INEC on the results of what transpired. And I congratulate my friend, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, on his landmark victory,” he said.
The PDP candidate defended the outcome of Saturday’s election and argued that the ADC candidate, John Chuma-Nwosu, and the Labour Party candidate, George Moghalu, who alleged rigging in the poll, were only expressing their “personal opinions.”
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“Anambra people have spoken; we will allow Governor Soludo to finish his four years,” he said.
Working with Soludo
Maupe Ogun-Yusuf, the programme anchor, asked Mr Ezenwafor if he was suggesting that he was willing to work with Mr Soludo in the state.
“I can assist him (Soludo). I have been assisting him before; he is my friend. I brought him to work in Anambra.
“I convinced Soludo to contest the election in the first instance when I was senior special assistant to (the immediate past) Governor Willie Obiano. He (Soludo) came, he did well,” he responded.
‘Why I performed poorly in the poll’
During the TV programme, Mr Ezenwafor, who came in a distant sixth place in the election with 1,401 votes, claimed that he performed poorly in the poll due to the reported attack on him and alleged betrayal by the leadership of the PDP.
He said after the attack, he was hospitalised for three months in Abuja and only left the hospital to realise that he had been allegedly betrayed by the PDP leadership ahead of the poll.
“Before I came in (to Anambra from the Abuja hospital), they had bought all my (PDP state) executives.
“The state executives were even working for another party. Everything I planned and set in motion was (destroyed). There was massive betrayal from the state PDP executives and a few from the national,” he said.
READ ALSO; Anambra voter turnout doubles but still reflects low participation in Nigeria’s elections
The candidate claimed that even his party agents during Saturday’s poll “were taken by the state executives to work for another party.”
Mr Ezenwafor argued that, with the alleged betrayal in the PDP, he could not have successfully challenged Messrs Soludo and Ukachukwu, who he said were more united in their political parties in Anambra.
‘Soludo is doing well on security’
The PDP candidate hailed Mr Soludo’s efforts in fighting insecurity in Anambra State.
“What they (security chiefs in Anambra) need is better equipment, and insecurity will be a thing of the past,” he said.
He advised Mr Soludo to prioritise an inclusive government for the state’s progress.
“I will advise Governor Chukwuma Soludo to run an inclusive government so that Anambra will be very safe and prosperous,” he stated.
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