The Anambra State governor, Chukwuma Soludo, has urged Igbos to support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027 and not waste their votes on other presidential candidates.

In a video posted on Anambra State’s official X page on Saturday,  Mr Soludo urged the South-East to ensure their votes count in 2027.

The video was titled, “Soludo urges South-East to back Tinubu in 2027, warns against wasting votes.”

Mr Soludo, who spoke in Igbo, said, “People of South-East, are you here? Will your vote count for next year? Or will you throw it away? Our votes must count this time around because ultimately, the progressives are working together.”

Highlighting the cry over marginalisation of the South-East, Mr Soludo said, “In politics, you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you bargain for. You bargain with your votes because it’s about votes. I said it in my inaugural address that I hope and pray Igbo people don’t waste our votes again.”

Mr Soludo described votes for other potential presidential candidates, including a former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi and a former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, as “wasted votes.”

In the 2023 presidential election, Mr Obi had the majority of votes from the South-East.

However, Mr Obi came third with 6,101,533 votes, representing 25.40 per cent of the total votes, while Mr Abubakar polled 6,984,520 votes (29.07 per cent) to emerge second. Mr Tinubu won the keenly contested election with 8,794,726 votes, representing 36.61 per cent of the total votes.