Nicholas Ukachukwu, one of the aspirants in the upcoming governorship election in Anambra, has emerged as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate.

Mr Ukachukwu was declared the winner of the party’s governorship primary election in the early hours of Sunday by the chairman of the Election Committee and Returning Officer, Governor 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, Mr Otu announced that Mr Ukachukwu polled 1,455 votes to beat his closest rival, Valentine Ozigbo, who scored 67 votes.

He also said the two other aspirants, Mr Johnbosco Onunkwo and Mr Edozie Madu, polled eight votes and 26 votes, respectively.

Mr Otu 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 a free, fair and peaceful election.

The state chairman of APC, Basil Ejidike, expressed satisfaction with the primary election’s outcome.

Mr Ejidike said 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.

In response, Mr 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 and prayers, and we have to work hard to win the governorship election,” the aspirant 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.

(NAN)