The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has emerged the dominant party in the just concluded are council elections across the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, winning five of the six available chairmanship seats across the capital city.
PREMIUM TIMES deployed reporters across the six area councils—Abaji, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kwali, Kuje and the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC). Five of the area councils have 10 wards each, while AMAC has 12.
A total of 637 candidates from 17 political parties ran for the 68 positions – 62 councillorship seats and six chairpersons’ seats. Out of the 1,680,315 registered voters in the territory, 1,587,025 had collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and were eligible to vote. Voting took place across 2,822 polling units, with 4,345 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines deployed to support the process.
Almost a sweep
The APC nearly swept all the chairmanship positions in the area councils in the just concluded elections. But the total number of the councillorship seats won by the various political parties could not be ascertained yet as of the time of filing this report. But the trend is likely to be similar to outcome of the chairmanship elections across the six council areas.
Results declared by the officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) across the councils show that the APC secured victories in Abaji, Kwali, Bwari, AMAC and Kuje, while the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) emerged victorious in Gwagwalada.
In Abaji Area Council, the incumbent chairman, Abubakar Abdullahi of the APC, was returned elected after polling 15,535 votes. He defeated candidates of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) and PDP, who came next to him with 5,357 and 4,547 votes, respectively.
The APC also recorded a decisive win in Kwali Area Council, where its candidate, Daniel Nuhu, secured 17,032 votes. His closest challenger, Haruna Pai of the PDP, garnered 8,575 votes. The results showed that the APC swept all the wards in the council, underlining its strong grassroots structure and voter mobilisation in the area.
In Bwari Area Council, Joshua Ishaku of the APC clinched the chairperson seat with 18,466 votes, defeating his PDP rival and other contestants in an election that political observers described as competitive but orderly. The victory further strengthened the APC’s dominance in the northern flank of the FCT.
The party also retained control of AMAC, the most populous and politically strategic council in the territory. Christopher Maikalangu of the APC was declared winner, returning for another term after defeating candidates from rival parties. AMAC, which covers the city centre and several densely populated districts, is often seen as a political barometer for the FCT, making the APC’s victory there particularly significant.
In Kuje Area Council, the APC’s Danjuma Samuel secured 17,269 votes to defeat the PDP candidate by a margin of over 1,400 votes.
The PDP prevented APC’s complete sweep of the area councils with its only triumph in Gwagwalada where its candidate, Mohammed Kasim, polled 22,165 votes to defeat the APC’s Yahaya Shehu, who scored 17,788 votes.
With the conclusion of results collation and official declarations, the outcome of the elections signals a clear advantage for the APC at the grassroots level in Abuja. Winning five of the six chairmanship seats not only reinforces the party’s organisational strength within the FCT but also positions it strongly ahead of future political contests in the territory. For the PDP, the victory in Gwagwalada offers a foothold and a potential base for rebuilding in the capital’s local political landscape.
The 2026 FCT area council elections were conducted across the six councils amid tight security.
There were concerns about irregularities observed during the polls. Observers flagged logistical lapses, low voter turnout and isolated cases of vote-buying in the elections.
Low voter turnout, other challenges observed
Yiaga Africa, an election monitoring group, which deployed observers across the 62 wards of the FCT to monitor the polls, acknowledged the peaceful conduct of the election. However, it said there was a general low turnout.
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The group said logistical challenges significantly affected the timely commencement of voting, particularly in the AMAC. Delays in deploying personnel and materials led to late openings at several polling units, especially in Wuse and Gwarinpa wards.
It also raised concerns about missing elections materials and reassignment of voters to newly created polling units without proper notification. This, it said, resulted in overcrowding in some polling units.
Even though there was a heavy security presence across the capital city, Yiaga flagged isolated cases of vote buying and early closure of exercises in some locations.