The All Progressives Congress candidate and incumbent chairman, Christopher Maikalangu, has won the Abuja Municipal Area Council chairmanship election after polling 40,295 votes to defeat 15 other candidates.
The Independent National Electoral Commission declared the results at its area office in Karu at approximately 4:30 am on Sunday, February 22.
The Collation Officer for AMAC, Professor Andrew Abue, announced that Maikalangu secured the highest number of votes out of a total of 62,861 valid votes cast in the election.
“That Maikalangu of the APC, having certified the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected,” Abue said.
The African Democratic Congress candidate, Paul Ogidi, finished a distant second with 12,109 votes, while the Peoples Democratic Party’s Dantani Zanda came third with 3,398 votes.
Zanda had stepped down from the race days before the election and endorsed Maikalangu but still polled votes as his name remained on the ballot.
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According to the collation officer, 65,197 total votes were cast, with 62,861 valid and 2,336 rejected.
The total number of registered voters in AMAC stood at 837,338, while only 65,676 were accredited, reflecting a voter turnout of approximately 7.8 per cent.
The Social Democratic Party’s Simon Obinna polled 2,185 votes, followed by the New Nigeria Peoples Party’s Jibrin Alhassan with 1,694 votes and the All Progressives Grand Alliance’s Eze Chukwu with 1,111 votes.
Other candidates and their scores included Agbon Vaniah of Accord with 403 votes, Richard Elizabeth of the Action Democratic Party with 588 votes, Madaki Robert of the Young Progressives Party with 421 votes, Swani Buba of the Zenith Labour Party with 189 votes, Chukwu Promise of the Allied Peoples Movement with 122 votes, Nemiebika Tamunomiesam of the Action Alliance with 108 votes, Iber Shimakaha of the Peoples Redemption Party with 90 votes, Samson Usani of the National Rescue Movement with 73 votes, Thomas Happiness of the Boot Party with 43 votes, and Ugoh Michael of the Action Peoples Party with 32 votes.
Maikalangu, who retained the chairmanship seat, thanked voters and pledged to prioritise infrastructure development, improved sanitation, and economic opportunities within the council.