Early results from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council elections held on Saturday
indicated that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was leading other political parties in several parts of the capital territory amid very low turnout of voters and allegations of vote-buying.
The exercise was a highly spirited contest between the APC and the African Democratic Congress (ADC), with the opposition party also leading in some of the polling units.
Amid the allegations of vote-buying and logistical challenges, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Nyesom Wike, expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the elections, describing the process as orderly, efficient, and peaceful.
Wike also clarified that he didn’t impose curfew on the FCT for Saturday’s elections without the approval of President Bola Tinubu.
Elections into the chairmanship and councillorship positions in the six area councils of Abuja, namely Bwari, Kuje, Gwagwalada, Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Abaji, and Kwali, were held on Saturday.
The polls, which were characterised by low turnout of voters and incidents of vote-buying, were contested by no fewer than 10 political parties, including the ADC, Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Labour Party (LP), APC, All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), and Young Peoples Party (YPP).
In Nyanya Ward of the AMAC, preliminary polling unit results showed the APC ahead of rivals in both chairmanship and councillorship races, despite low voter turnout in parts of the territory.
Similarly, in another early declaration at Polling Unit 109 in Alaiyta, the APC was formally announced the winner, over the ADC and other contenders.
APC’s chairmanship candidate, Christopher Maikalangu, won decisively at his polling unit in Garki Village 2, AMAC, defeating the ADC candidate by a wide margin.
However, in Wuse Zone 4 (AMAC), the ADC claimed victory at Polling Unit 076, in both the chairmanship and councillorship tallies.
Observers say pockets of strong ADC performance, particularly in parts of Kubwa and Bwari, signal a closer race than some had predicted, raising hopes among opposition supporters of broader gains as INEC continued to upload on Saturday night.
Election officials and on-the-ground observers have noted low voter turnout in many wards, delays in uploading the results, and early logistical delays.
INEC collated only a few results on Saturday night, but the commission has yet to declare any official overall leads or winners.
Before the election, the commission said its target was to have the election commence by 8 a.m.
However, while INEC officials arrived at voting centres in the city centre on time, the same could not be said of those at the outskirts.
Deji Elumoye, Chuks Okocha
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