The British High Commission on Thursday in Abuja congratulated Prof. Charles Soludo for emerging winner of the Anambra State governorship election held on Nov. 6.
Soludo polled 112,229 votes to defeat his closest rival, Valentine Ozigbo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored 53,807.
The congratulatory message was contained in a statement signed by Atinuke Akande-Alegbe, Senior Communications and Public Diplomacy Officer at the High Commission.
“We note that the results released by INEC were consistent with the results obtained through the civil society Parallel Vote Tabulation process carried out by YIAGA Africa.
“Our mission, which observed the preparations for the poll, acknowledges the collective effort of stakeholders in the conduct of the election.
“The people of Anambra have demonstrated resilience and a commitment to democracy.
“We recognise that independent Nigerian voices have expressed concerns about the conduct of the electoral process, in particular around logistics, accreditation of voters, deployment of polling officials, and low voter turnout.
“The UK is encouraged by the use and transparency of INEC’s result viewing portal in the electoral process.
“We encourage any party or individual who is dissatisfied with the process to seek redress in a peaceful manner and through the appropriate legal channels,’’ it stated.
It noted that as a long-standing partner of the Nigerian people, the United Kingdom would continue to support Nigeria and its civil society in drawing lessons from the election.
Also speaking, the British High Commissioner in Nigeria, Catriona Laing, said that credible and inclusive elections were fundamental to Nigeria’s democratic growth.
“I encourage INEC and all stakeholders to continue to improve on the electoral system and to ensure meaningful participation by young people, women and citizens generally in the democratic process,’’ she added.
