President Muhammadu Buhari has extended an arm of fellowship to the Governor-elect of Anambra State, Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo.

TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports President Buhari extended the hand of fellowship in a congratulatory message shared via his official Facebook page on Wednesday.

The President stated that he looks forward to working with Soludo for the peace, security and development of Anambra State and the entire country.

He also enjoined Prof Soludo to rally other stakeholders to tackle the enormous challenges confronting the State and the Southeast in general.

The former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) won the November 6 Anambra governorship election, defeating candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Buhari’s congratulatory message to Soludo reads: “I congratulate Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo, the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) — and a member of the Presidential Economic Advisory Committee (PEAC) — on his victory in the Anambra State gubernatorial election.

“I commend the security agencies for their determination to ensure that the election went on as smoothly as possible, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the successful conclusion of the exercise, despite the initial challenges encountered.

“I enjoin Prof Soludo to rally other stakeholders to tackle the enormous challenges confronting Anambra State and the Southeast in general.

“I look forward to working with him for the peace, security and development of Anambra State and the entire country”.

“My victory reflects supreme will of God, people’s mandate” – Soludo

Meanwhile, Prof. Soludo has said his victory reflects the supreme will of the Almighty God, as well as an overwhelming sacred mandate of the people.

He stated this on Wednesday at his residence in his country home in Isuofia, Aguata Local Government Area, while making his acceptance speech.

This followed his declaration as the winner of the November 6 election by INEC.

The declaration of Soludo was, however, sequel to his victory after the successful conduct of the supplementary election in Ihiala local government on Tuesday.

The supplementary poll was conducted after the declaration of Saturday’s gubernatorial poll as inconclusive by the Returning Officer, Prof. Florence Obi, the Vice Chancellor, University of Calabar.

Obi in the early hours of Wednesday declared Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) winner after polling a total of112,229 votes.

He defeated his closest rival, Mr Valentine Ozigbo of the PDP, who scored 53,807 to emerge second.

Sen. Andy Uba of the APC got a total of 43,285 votes to clinch the third position.

While promising to make the people proud, Soludo solicited for guidance, advice and contribution of everyone to succeed.

“My role will be that of your chief servant, and I will work every minute of the day with you to make you profoundly proud.

“Working in collaboration with other states, the Federal Government, and the international community, we have all that it takes to make our state whatever we collectively wish it to be.

“As we transit to a post-oil world and into the 4th industrial revolution, let us work together to create that livable and prosperous homeland.

“That is the industrial, technology and leisure hub of West Africa.

“This is our manifest destiny, and collectively we shall get there!” he said.

Soludo congratulated other candidates who contested in the election and urged them to support him.

“I hereby extend my hand of fellowship to all of you. I need all of you to succeed.

“Politics aside, we are all brothers. Let’s come together for the ‘Project Anambra’,” he urged.

Soludo said that the use of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), represented a massive improvement over the Card Reader and Manual Accreditation System.

He urged INEC to ensure the continuous refinement of the technology, as well as upscaling of the skills of its operators.

The governor-elect further called for collaboration with telecommunication companies to improve on the nation’s electoral system.

While commending INEC for it efforts, he averred: “The election has been adjudged as the most peaceful, free, fair and credible.”