I’ll Win By Landslide, Despite Massive Vote Buying — Soludo Declares
Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has expressed confidence that he will emerge victorious in the ongoing governorship election, despite reports of massive vote buying in some parts of the state.
Speaking shortly after casting his vote at polling unit 002, Umuezeadigo Street, Isuofia community in Aguata Local Government Area, Soludo described the exercise as largely peaceful, with only a few minor technical hitches.
According to him, reports from across the state indicated that the voting process had been smooth, although “some polling units recorded minor glitches with the BVAS machines.”
“I got a report from Orumba South that the BVAS wasn’t working as expected. But all said and done, I think, on the average, it is going on smoothly,” he stated.
The governor commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for its overall management of the process, saying the exercise had been orderly and peaceful in most areas.
However, he expressed concern over alleged cases of vote buying in parts of the state, particularly in Orumba South Local Government.
“The only concern we have received is from one or two places, particularly in the South local government, where there are reports of massive vote buying”.
“One of the candidates from that area seems desperate to win and has been sharing ₦15,000 per voter.”
He, however, dismissed the act as inconsequential to the outcome of the election.
“I said even if they share ₦100,000, never mind. Let the people just vote and count the votes. It doesn’t matter for us,” he added.
Soludo maintained that his party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), was confident of a convincing victory once the votes were freely and fairly counted.
“We’re fairly convinced that on the basis of the votes — one man, one vote — we are going to win and win landslide,” the governor declared.
Describing the voting process at his polling unit as “quite seamless,” Soludo noted that many voters were still in the queue around 1:30 p.m., assuring that everyone present before the official closing time would be allowed to vote.
“The rule is that once you are in the polling unit before 2:30 p.m., you must vote. I expect that all these people will vote before the end of the process,” he said.
When asked about voter turnout, Soludo said it was too early to judge while voting was still ongoing.
“How can I know the number of turnouts when voting is still ongoing? You can only know when voting closes and the votes are counted,” he explained.
The governor dismissed claims that APGA had been complacent during the campaign period, insisting that his party worked harder than any other.
“We have opponents, but we have not seen the opposition. Even then, we have not taken the votes of the people for granted,” Soludo said. “APGA is the only party that toured all 21 LGAs and 326 wards across the state.”
He also accused a rival party of plotting to manipulate results during the collation process.“One party — I don’t want to mention the candidate — their only strategy is that they have written results which they want to swap during collation,” he alleged.
“They were even telling polling agents not to fill the result sheets properly or upload results on IReV so they can manipulate the process.”
Soludo, however, expressed faith in the vigilance of Anambra people and the credibility of the electoral system.
“Our people are vigilant, organised, and united. We’ll follow the process from the polling unit to the state collation centre. Once the system works, we’ll win all 21 local governments,” he concluded.
Hafsoh Isiaq is a graduate of Linguistics. An avid writer committed to creative, high-quality research and news reportage. She has considerable experience in writing and reporting across a variety of platforms including print and online.
