By Latiifah Amusan
Governor Hope Uzodimma of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been reelected in Imo State’s gubernatorial election held on Saturday.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) made the official announcement on Sunday in Owerri.
The declaration came from Prof Abayomi Fashina, the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University, Oye Ekiti, who served as the state Returning Officer.
The announcement followed a meticulous eight-hour process of collating results from various local government areas.
Governor Uzodimma sought re-election and triumphed in 27 local government areas of the state.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Samuel Anyanwu, secured a distant second place with 71,503 votes, while the Labour Party candidate, Athan Achonu, claimed the third position with 64,081 votes.
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Abayomi Fashina, emphasized,
“That you Hope Uzodimma of APC having satisfied the law is hereby returned elected.”
Governor Uzodimma’s victory was comprehensive, as he surpassed not only PDP’s Anyanwu but also defeated other contenders, including Nneji Achonu of the Labour Party (LP) and Jack Ogunewe of the Action Alliance (AA).
The APC candidate amassed a total of 540,308 votes, highlighting a significant margin over his closest rivals.
