Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has inaugurated a special legal team to challenge the results of Saturday’s election held across the Area Councils of the Federal Capital Territory.
As pronounced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) won five of the six chairmanship seats in the council elections.
APC won the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Abaji, Bwari, Kwali and Kuje, while the PDP secured the chairmanship seat in Gwagwalada.
The exercise, conducted to fill six chairmanship and 62 councillorship seats, was marred by widespread voter apathy and reported vote-buying.
Ini Ememobong, PDP National Publicity Secretary, in a statement on Sunday, the party congratulated its winning candidates but alleged irregularities.
The party said its legal team would be headed by its National Legal Adviser, Shafi Bara’u, Esq., and urged aggrieved candidates to act promptly.
“We specifically congratulate the chairman-elect of Gwagwalada Area Council, Mohammed Kasim, and the councillors who have been declared successful by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
“This victory, though less in number than we anticipated, is particularly gladdening because it is against the background of unprecedented intimidation, high-powered money politics and brazen executive brigandage,” the statement read.
Ememobong further alleged misconduct during the polls.
“Reports and video evidence abound where armed security personnel were used to cart away result sheets at polling units, intimidate voters and unduly influence the outcome of the elections.
“The incredible voter apathy in these polls is a direct response to the anti-people Electoral Act 2026, where the people have completely lost faith in electoral outcomes conducted under this Act.
“These local council polls may just be a foreshadowing of the forthcoming general elections in 2027 if changes are not urgently made.”