Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, Anambra State Governor, has received his certificate of return as the winner of last Saturday’s governorship election in the state.

He commended Prof. Joash Amupitan, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and its chairman, for the credibility of the process, saying they have not been commended enough for the exercise.

Soludo, who was accompanied by his deputy, Dr. Onyekachi Ibezim, and their spouses, was at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday, with other aides and supporters, where they were both presented with the certificates by the Supervising INEC National Commissioner in charge of the Anambra State election, Kenneth Ikeagu.

Ikeagu made a statement that, “We are here to present the certificates of return to the Governor and Deputy Governor of Anambra State, following their successful outing during the state governorship election held on Saturday, November 8, 2025.

“Section 72(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 mandates the Independent National Electoral Commission to issue a certificate of return within 14 days to every candidate who has been duly returned by the returning officer under the Act.”

Soludo, who spoke after the presentation, said: “I congratulate INEC and its new chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan. I said it before that you do not get a second chance to create a first impression. We are quite delighted here in Anambra that his first outing was here and it was very loud. I think the whole world celebrated it. I want to use this opportunity to thank INEC and say they deserve better credit than they have been given.

“There is indeed hope for this country. I always see Nigeria as half full, not half empty. I thank the security agencies; they stood firm and insisted that the will of the people must not be subverted.

“We had unprecedented turnout; almost 600,000 people came out. For the very first time in the history of Anambra State, a candidate got 73% of the total votes cast, winning 98% of all the wards and 99% of all the polling units. There are several local governments where we didn’t lose even one polling unit.

“So, I want to once again appreciate the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu, for his very firm stand that this is a multi-party democracy and that the votes of the people must count.

“And to INEC, I say it again, you did well, and you have given us confidence in our electoral system once again. I have always said that our electoral process has been getting better and better. Every electoral year, we look back and see that we have done better than the previous one.

“When we had a by-election in August this year, our stand was: let the votes count. Let the people vote, count the votes, and announce the results. INEC did, and for the first time, APGA won a Senate election with 75%, just because the votes were allowed to count.

“This time, we did it again, and we said we stood for free, fair, credible, and transparent elections, and INEC did it.

“Finally, I want to thank Anambra people who came out, many who stood under the sun. To the candidates, I say we are like that in Anambra; we are brothers. In 2010, I ran, and even though the winner said it was a sham and scored only 30 percent, I called a press conference two hours later and congratulated him.”