THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Umar Abdulahi Abubakar of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the Abaji Area Council chairmanship election.
He defeated other contenders, including Sakodabo Bilyaminu of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and Mohammed Ibrahim of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
The ICIR reports that Abubakar, who polled 15,536 votes, defeated the PDP candidate, who got 4,547 votes, while the ADC’s came third with 37 votes.
The APC also recorded victory in the Kwali Area Council, where its candidate, Daniel Nuhu, secured 17,032 votes to defeat the PDP’s Haruna Pai, who polled 8,575 votes.
The results were announced by the returning officer Sunday morning, following the conclusion of counting of votes collated across the polling units and wards in the area council.
In the Kwali area council, The ICIR confirmed that the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Yakubu Dogara, stepped down for the APC candidate.
“We are political friends and both of us have come a very long way in politics. I have also supported him with my own manifesto of lifting Kwali, which is a largely agrarian community, in agriculture. I will work with him to provide incentives to our people in agriculture,” he said.
The ICIR, while monitoring the election, observed that most public schools in Kwali were not in good condition, and required urgent attention.
“It is part of the suggestions that I have made to him (the APC candidate) about the state of schools in our area so that our people can have basic and affordable education in the area council,” Dogara said.
In the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) the APC candidate, Christopher Maikalangu, emerged as the winner after polling 40,295 votes.
He defeated the ADC candidate, who scored 12,109 votes, while the PDP candidate came third with 3,398 votes.
Similarly, in Bwari Area Council, the APC candidate, Joshua Ishaku, won the chairmanship seat with 18,466 votes.
The ADC candidate polled 4,254 votes to place second, while the Zenith Labour Party, ZLP, candidate garnered 3,515 votes to finish third.
However, the PDP claimed the Gwagwalada Area Council chairmanship seat, with its candidate, Mohammed Kasim, polling 22,165 votes to beat the APC candidate, Yahaya Shehu, who scored 17,788 votes.
The APGA candidate, Biko Umar, came third with 1,687 votes.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.