The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Abubakar Abdullahi of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner of the chairmanship election for Abaji Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
INEC Presiding Officer for the area council, Muhammad Usman, announced that Mr Abdullahi, the incumbent chairman of the area council, was returned to office after securing a total of 15,535 votes.
The candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), Loko Angulu, came second with 5,357 votes.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Sokodabo Bilyaminu, followed with 4,547 votes. The candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Aminu Sadiq, secured 53 votes, while the African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, Mohammed Ibrahim, polled 37 votes.
“Umar Abdullahi Abubakar of APC, having satisfied the requirement by the law, is hereby declared the winner and returned elected,” the presiding officer declared.
Abaji Area Council was one of the areas that recorded a large voter turnout in the FCT election. Voting commenced as early as 8:00 a.m. in many polling units and, in some cases, continued until 6:30 p.m. due to the high turnout
Haruna Saidu, a voter at Polling Unit 004, UNG Hussaini Wanzami I in Abaji North-east Ward, told PREMIUM TIMES during the election that the community lacked potable water and electricity.
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Mr Saidu, a truck driver, urged whoever emerged as chairman of the Abaji Area Council to prioritise the provision of potable water and electricity.
“We don’t have water in our streets and we don’t have electricity. We have been complaining about that for a long time but no changes. The government should look into it and help us,” he said.
Meanwhile, when Mr Abdullahi, the council chairman, arrived to vote at Polling Unit 015, UNG Hussaini Wanzami II in Abaji North-east Ward, he came in a convoy of six luxury vehicles, including a Range Rover Sport, Toyota Prado, Lexus SUV, Hilux, and GAC.
Victory in Abaji means the APC has now won in four of the six area councils where elections were held. The PDP has won in one while the result of the last area council (Kuje) was still being collated at the time of this report.