A United Nations election observer, Hon. Jim Oko, has praised the conduct of the just-concluded Anambra State governorship election, describing it as “peaceful, credible, and in line with international best practices.”
Oko, who serves as the National Coordinator of Nouvel Perspective International, a UN-accredited election observation organisation, gave the commendation in Awka on Sunday shortly after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) winner of the poll.
Speaking to journalists at the INEC State Headquarters, Oko said his team was impressed by the level of organisation, transparency, and professionalism displayed throughout the exercise.
“From all our team observed while moving around the state on Saturday up till now, it has been a very fulfilling experience for us as observers,” he said.
“Everything has been conducted in line with international best practices. The process was peaceful, well-coordinated, and the collation was transparent.”
Oko, who has monitored elections in several countries, including the United States, said the Anambra election stood out for its calm atmosphere and orderly process.
“Having monitored elections across different parts of the world, including the United States which was a high-level exercise, we can conveniently state that everything here was as it should be — peacefully conducted, peacefully collated, peacefully announced, and peacefully accepted,” he added.
The UN observer expressed satisfaction with the collaboration among electoral officials, security agencies, and political stakeholders, noting that such synergy contributed greatly to the success of the election.
According to the official results announced by the Returning Officer, Professor Edoba Omoregie, Soludo scored 422,664 votes to emerge victorious, defeating his closest rival, Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who garnered 99,445 votes.
Other results showed Paul Chukwuma of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) with 37,753 votes, George Moghalu of the Labour Party (LP) with 10,576 votes, and John Nwosu of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) backed coalition securing 8,208 votes.
Observers from across Nigeria and abroad have since lauded the electoral body for maintaining order during the process, especially amid heightened political tension in the state before the polls.
The United Nations observer concluded by encouraging other African countries to emulate Nigeria’s progress in electoral management, stressing that democracy thrives when citizens trust the process.
“We are very glad about this outcome. It shows that Nigeria’s democracy is growing stronger. What we witnessed here should be a model for future elections across Africa,” he said.
