By Peter Omopo
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Christopher Maikalangu of the (APC) as the winner of Saturday’s Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) chairmanship election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The Returning Officer for AMAC, Professor Andrew Abue, announced that Maikalangu, the incumbent chairman, secured 40,295 votes out of 62,861 valid votes cast, thereby retaining his seat.
His closest challenger, Paul Ogidi of the (ADC), garnered 12,109 votes, while Dantani Zanda of the (PDP) polled 3,398 votes.
According to INEC, a total of 65,197 votes were cast in the election, with 62,861 declared valid and 2,336 rejected. The commission also disclosed that AMAC has 837,338 registered voters, while 65,676 voters were accredited for the exercise.
Declaring the result, Professor Abue stated: “That Maikalangu of the APC, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected.”
Other candidates in the race included Agbon Vaniah of the Accord Party (403 votes); Nemiebika Tamunomiesam of the Action Alliance (108 votes); Richard Elizabeth of the Action Democratic Party (588 votes); Eze Chukwu of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (1,111 votes); and Chukwu Promise of the Allied Peoples Movement (122 votes).
Also in the contest were Ugoh Michael of the Action Peoples Party (32 votes); Thomas Happiness of the Boot Party (43 votes); Jibrin Alhassan of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (1,694 votes); Samson Usani of the National Rescue Movement (73 votes); Iber Shimakaha of the Peoples Redemption Party (90 votes); Simon Obinna of the Social Democratic Party (2,185 votes); Madaki Robert of the Young Progressives Party (421 votes); and Swani Buba of the Zenith Labour Party (189 votes).
Reacting to the outcome, APC collation agent Gambo Babale described the election and collation process as credible and transparent. He commended INEC for what he termed a well-conducted exercise across polling units and ward collation centres.
Babale noted that the PDP won two ward councillorship seats in Karu and Karishi, which he said underscored the transparency of the process. He added that Maikalangu’s victory signalled the party’s preparedness ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Similarly, the YPP ward collation agent, Abdullahi Ibrahim, described the collation process as transparent and congratulated the winner.
Result sheets were signed by party agents of the ADC, APC, APGA, YPP and NNPP present at the AMAC collation centre.
The AMAC chairmanship election was part of the FCT Area Council polls conducted across the territory.
