Chief Nicholas Ukachukwu, one of the aspirants in the upcoming Governoship Election in Anambra, has emerged the Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Ukachukwu was declared the winner of the party’s governorship primary election in the early hours of Sunday morning by the Chairman of the Election Committee and Returning Officer, Gov. Bassey Otu of Cross River.
The election, which commenced on Saturday at the Women Development Centre, Awka, was contested by four aspirants.
Declaring the result of the exercise, Otu announced that Ukachukwu polled 1,455 votes to beat his closest rival, Mr Valentine Ozigbo, who scored 67 votes.
He also said that the two other aspirants, Mr Johnbosco Onunkwo and Mr Edozie Madu, polled eight votes and 26 votes, respectively.
He thanked the party faithful and aspirants for their resilience and loyalty to ensure the success of the exercise.
The governor also thanked the security agencies, journalists and election observers, who stayed awake all night to ensure free, fair and peaceful election.
The state Chairman of APC, Mr Basil Ejidike, expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the primary election.
Ejidike said that there was no violence during the exercise, as reported in some sections of the media.
He said that withdrawing from the race, as done by some aspirants, was by choice and also their constitutional right.
“This was part of why we decided to adopt indirect election in order to involve our members at the grassroots,” he said.
In a response, Ukachukwu promised to carry all the party members along in order to win the governorship election.
“As it stands now, I cannot do it alone without you.
“Therefore, I need your support, prayers and we have to work hard to win the governorship election,” he said.
He pledged to bring his wealth of experience to bear to ensure that the current administration of the All Progressive Grand Alliance would be defeated at the poll.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that INEC scheduled November 8 for the off-cycle poll. (NAN)
