Soludo casts vote, decries opposition candidates vote buying

Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State on Saturday cast his vote in the ongoing governorship election and decried incidents of vote buying reported in some polling units in Nnewi South Local Government Area.

Soludo voted at Polling Unit 002, Ofiyi Square, Umueze, Isuofia Ward 13, Aguata Local Government Area, at exactly 1:20 p.m.

Speaking with newsmen shortly after voting, the governor commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for conducting a peaceful and orderly election process.

“I have been getting numerous calls from across the state. I think it has been relatively peaceful and going smoothly.

“Though there are some glitches at polling units in Olumbanasa in Anambra West, where the BVAS reportedly did not work as expected, on average, the election is going well,” he said.

Soludo, however, expressed concern over reports of massive vote buying in Nnewi South.

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“The only concern we have received is in one or two places in Nnewi South, where we understand that there has been massive vote buying. Some voters are being paid as much as ₦15,000,” he said.

He expressed confidence in his party’s chances, saying the election would be won on the basis of ‘one man, one vote’.

On the large turnout of voters, Soludo noted that anyone in the queue before the official closing time of 2:30 p.m. would be allowed to vote.

He also alleged that a political party was planning to manipulate results during collation.

“The only concern, and we hope it does not happen, is that one political party’s strategy is to swap results during collation.

“They even told their polling agents not to write results properly or upload them on IReV to create room for manipulation.

“But we have confidence in the system. Our people are vigilant, organised and united.

“We will follow the process from the polling units to the wards, LGAs, and the state.

“If the system works as designed, we have no doubt that we will win all 21 local government areas,” Soludo said.

He commended INEC for the early commencement of voting and lauded residents for their peaceful conduct during the exercise.