The Peoples Democratic Party has dragged the All Progressives Congress to court following the outcome of Saturday’s Area Council elections in the Federal Capital Territory.
The election, conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission, was held to fill six chairmanship seats and 62 councillorship positions across the FCT’s six Area Councils.
According to results declared by INEC, the APC won five out of the six chairmanship seats, leaving the PDP with only one.
The APC secured victories in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Abaji, Bwari, Kwali and Kuje. The PDP’s only win came in Gwagwalada Area Council.
In a statement on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, the PDP said it had set up a special legal team to challenge the results. The team will be headed by the party’s National Legal Adviser, Shafi Bara’u.
The party congratulated its winning candidate in Gwagwalada, Mohammed Kasim, and the councillors who emerged victorious. However, it alleged widespread irregularities during the polls.
The PDP claimed there were cases of intimidation, vote-buying and the use of security personnel to interfere with the process. The party also alleged that result sheets were taken away from some polling units and that voters were influenced.
It described the level of voter turnout as “incredible voter apathy” and blamed it on what it called the “anti-people Electoral Act 2026.” According to the PDP, many citizens have lost confidence in the electoral system.
The party warned that if urgent changes are not made, the local council elections may be a sign of what could happen during the 2027 general elections.
The FCT Area Council elections are important because they determine leadership at the grassroots level in the nation’s capital. The councils are responsible for basic services such as primary education, health centres, markets and local roads.
Over the years, local council elections in Nigeria have often been criticised for low turnout and allegations of vote-buying.
In the Abuja Municipal Area Council, the APC candidate, Christopher Maikalangu, polled 40,295 votes out of 62,861 valid votes cast to retain his seat. The Returning Officer, Andrew Abue, declared him winner after confirming he met the legal requirements.
The African Democratic Congress came second in AMAC with 12,109 votes, while the PDP scored 3,398 votes. Out of 65,197 total votes cast, 2,336 were rejected. The council has over 837,000 registered voters, but only about 65,000 were accredited.
In Bwari Area Council, Joshua Ishaku of the APC won with 18,466 votes. The ADC placed second with 4,254 votes, while the Zenith Labour Party got 3,515 votes. The election was held across the 10 wards of the council.
In Abaji, APC’s Umar Abubakar secured 15,535 votes to defeat his closest rival from the Young Progressives Party, who scored 5,357 votes. The PDP candidate came third with 4,547 votes.
In Kwali Area Council, the APC candidate, Nuhu Daniel, polled 17,032 votes to defeat Haruna Pai of the PDP, who scored 8,575 votes.
The contest in Kuje was closely fought. The APC candidate, Danjuma Shekwolo, scored 17,269 votes to win. The PDP candidate, Zakwoyi Danlami, followed closely with 15,824 votes, while the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance got 4,305 votes.
The Returning Officer, Prof Nkiruka Odoh of the University of Abuja, declared Shekwolo duly elected after confirming that he met the legal requirements.
The PDP’s only victory came in Gwagwalada. Mohammed Kasim polled 22,165 votes to defeat the APC candidate, Yahaya Shehu, who scored 17,788 votes. The Returning Officer, Philip Akpen, announced Kasim as the winner.
In Gwagwalada, there were 207,577 registered voters, but only 46,294 were accredited. A total of 43,960 valid votes were recorded, with 1,521 rejected votes.
Across the FCT, the results show a wide gap between the number of registered voters and those who actually voted. This trend has remained a concern in many local council elections in Nigeria.
The Independent National Electoral Commission has defended the conduct of the election and denied claims that voters were moved from their original polling units.
In a statement signed by its Acting Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Wilfred Ifogah, INEC said over 239,000 voters participated in the election. This represents about 15 per cent of the 1,680,315 registered voters in the FCT.
The commission said that by 8:30 am on election day, 45 per cent of polling units had opened for voting, and by 10:00 am, all polling units were open.
INEC admitted that some voters had difficulty locating their polling units. However, it denied claims that voters were migrated to new units.
According to the commission, what was done was the creation of split polling units in places where more than 1,250 voters were registered. These new units were located a few metres away from the original ones to reduce overcrowding.
INEC said it displayed the voter register at designated centres four days before the election to allow voters confirm their details. It also said text messages and emails were sent to affected voters between February 18 and February 21, 2026, to inform them of the exact locations of their split polling units.
As of 2:00 pm on Sunday, February 22, 2026, INEC disclosed that 93 per cent of polling unit results had been uploaded to its Result Viewing Portal. This allowed residents and observers to view results from the six Area Councils.
The commission expressed concern about voter apathy but noted that turnout improved compared to the 2022 Area Council elections. In 2022, about 148,685 voters, representing 9.4 per cent of registered voters, participated.
“In the current election, over 239,210 voters voted, representing approximately 15 per cent of the total registered voters,” INEC said.
The commission also explained that the delay in announcing the Kuje result was due to the difficult terrain in Kabi Ward, which slowed the collation of results.
While the APC celebrates its strong showing and the PDP prepares for a legal battle, attention is now turning to the courts. Political observers say the outcome of the case may shape political alignments in the FCT ahead of the 2027 general elections.
