Valentine Ozigbo congratulates Charles Soludo over electoral victory
Valentine Ozigbo, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has congratulated Prof. Charles Soludo, the governor-elect of Anambra State.
Soludo was declared Governor-elect during the concluded gubernatorial elections held in the state.
Ozigbo, in a release issued, on Wednesday, said he has already called Prof. Soludo on phone to congratulate him.
Ozigno’s statement read thus, “I have just called Professor Chukwuma Soludo and congratulated him on being declared the winner of the Anambra State governorship elections, 2021. I wished him well and prayed for his success.
“Let me also use this opportunity to congratulate all the men and women who contested our dear state’s governorship this year. You all have shown a determination to see that Anambra is better. It was an honour to run this race with you.
“Two years ago, I decided to go into active partisan politics with a number of objectives in mind.
“First, to use Anambra to set an example of excellence in governance. The second was to unify Anambra and Ala Igbo around a shared vision of greatness. The third was to inspire more professionals to go into politics. I believe that attainment of these would go a long way in changing the story of black men and women in this world for the better.”
Ozigno said had he been successful at the pills, he intended to take “revolutionary steps to address the decay and decline in security, infrastructure, education, healthcare, the environment, and all other social systems meant to serve the people.
“As laid out in our Ka Anambra Chawapu Manifesto, we planned to transform Anambra into the most competitive sub-national economy in Nigeria by opening up public, social, and commercial spaces leveraging on the strength of our youth and women. Ultimately, to make Anambra the pride of Nigeria.
“Given where we started and where we are today, we consider ourselves winners. Our Ka Anambra Chawapu message has permeated the consciousness of Ndi Anambra, and the nation at large. It is the strongest message that has come out of Anambra 2021, and it continues to beat in the hearts of Ndi Igbo.”
The PDP candidate, though admitted that the election was fraught with irregularities, he, however, blamed security agencies for failing “to provide a peaceful environment for campaigns to hold. On election day, they were absent from many polling centres leading to elections not holding or held in situations that allowed for chaos and fraud.”
He also blamed INEC for presenting ‘Untrained and poorly trained staff who could not operate the voting machines in many places. They failed woefully in providing logistical support for their staff and so elections started very late in many places and did not hold in many others.
“The use of government funds and resources to corrupt, coerce, and intimidate voters, PDP party agents, and electoral officials was a major factor in determining the outcome of this election.”
Ozigbo claimed the shoddy preparation on the part of INEC led to “the disenfranchisement of the greater percentage of voters and staining the course of democracy. I will be dedicating time to champion the positive change we need to ensure that future elections are truly free and fair and that the will of the electorate prevails,” he said.
