THE All Progressives Congress (APC) has secured victory in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) chairmanship election, with incumbent chairman Christopher Zakka Maikalangu declared winner.
Announcing the result on Saturday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Collation Officer for the area council, Andrew Abue, said Maikalangu, currently the incumbent chairman, polled 40,295 votes to defeat his closest rival, Paul Moses of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), who garnered 12,109 votes. In total, 62,861 valid votes were recorded in the contest.
The AMAC election was conducted as part of the broader Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council polls, which involved 1,680,315 registered voters across 2,822 polling units.
Despite the scale of the exercise, turnout in many units was noticeably low.
At Garki Village Polling Unit 004, Maikalangu recorded a landslide win in his polling unit, securing 229 votes against ADC’s 15 and PDP’s two.
Out of 2,287 registered voters at the unit, only 252 were accredited.
Across polling centres, elderly voters expressed frustration over economic hardship and called for leadership that would prioritise their welfare.
Sixty-eight-year-old Aramide Kuburat while speaking with The ICIR at her polling unit 007, City Gate, lamented what she described as years of neglect.
“I am tired of the way the country is,” she said, adding that, “I am here to vote because I want them to empower us. I retired since 2014, especially here in Area 10 – there hasn’t been any major form of empowerment. All these our aged women, grown people like us, we are suffering. They should try to help us.”
Kuburat said the economic strain had extended to younger generations. “Our children passed out of university, no work. They are doing jobs they are not supposed to do. They are supposed to help us,” she added.
Similarly, 60-year-old widow Nwosu Justina said she voted with hope for a better future.
“Anybody that comes to that position should remember old women, especially we widows,” she said, stressing that “When we get a better ruler, things will be better. Do you know how much a bag of rice is now? If prices come down, poor people can eat rice.”
While the overall atmosphere remained largely calm, voting was briefly disrupted at Lugbe 2, Lugbe Primary School, following the arrest of two individuals suspected of vote buying around 12:55 p.m.
Security operatives apprehended the suspects for allegedly attempting to induce voters.
The arrest sparked tension as some residents confronted officers and demanded their release.
In the ensuing confrontation, one of the suspects resisted being taken away and was forcibly dragged into a police van.
The ICIR observed that the suspect was beaten and kicked by officers while being subdued.
Some women at the polling centre attempted to prevent the arrest, pulling at both the suspect and the security personnel in protest. Calm was eventually restored, and voting resumed.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M