By Deborah Nnamdi
Charles Chukwuma Soludo, former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has been re-elected as Governor of Anambra State following a decisive victory in Saturday’s gubernatorial election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced the results on Sunday, confirming Soludo’s commanding win with 422,664 votes under the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). His closest rival, the All Progressives Congress (APC), secured 99,445 votes, while the Young Progressives Party (YPP) came third with 37,753 votes. The Labour Party (LP) followed with 10,576 votes, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) polled 8,208 votes, and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) trailed with 1,401 votes.
INEC reported that out of 2,788,864 registered voters, 598,229 were accredited. A total of 584,054 votes were valid, while 11,244 were rejected, bringing the total number of votes cast to 595,298.
The declaration was made by the State Returning Officer, Prof. Omoregie Edoba, Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin, who officially announced Soludo as the winner at INEC’s state headquarters in Awka.
“I hereby declare that Soludo Chukwuma Charles of the APGA, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected,” Edoba said.
Soludo, 65, first assumed office as governor in November 2021. Before his foray into politics, he served as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria from 2004 to 2009, earning national recognition for his sweeping banking sector reforms.
His re-election marks a strong endorsement of his administration’s performance, particularly in infrastructure development, education, and economic revitalization across Anambra State.
Political observers view Soludo’s victory as a reaffirmation of APGA’s dominance in Anambra politics and a testament to his personal popularity and governance record.
