INEC declares elections in four Abuja councils inconclusive
Mon Apr 11, 2016 09:23:am Politics
2.6K By sosa hills
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared as inconclusive Saturday's elections in three of the six area councils in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The affected councils are the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Gwagwalada and Kuje.
There was a serious protest in Gwagwalada council when INEC stopped the election, with the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) reportedly in a clear lead.
The results came almost 24 hours after elections were concluded in the FCT on Saturday. The APGA candidate in Gwagwalada, Adamu Mustapha, had polled 15,272 while the APC candidate, Abubakar Jibrin, scored 14,546 before the election was stopped. This was greeted with protests, with three persons being injured while two INEC cars were smashed in the ensuing fracas.
INEC returning officer in Gwagwalada, Adamu Tanimu and a political party agent were attacked by the aggrieved youths who accused the commission of rigging the election in favour of their preferred candidates.
Six youths were arrested by the police in the area in connection with the crisis.
There was also tension in Kuje and AMAC when the electoral body declared the elections inconclusive.
In AMAC, the chairmanship contest was declared inconclusive by the INEC Returning Officer, Prof. Sunday Ododo, of the University of Maiduguri. He was assisted by the AMAC Electoral Officer, Jummai Umar.
At the Karu Site collation centre for AMAC, the APC was leading with 26,602 votes while the PDP trailed with 21, 230 votes. Controversy however set in when 15,363 votes were cancelled, being more than the difference between the APC and the PDP.
However, in a quick reaction, the APC agent, Mr. Sani Bawa, told journalists that the party was ready for a rerun and would win any time the election was conducted.
The election in Dabi polling unit in Kwali Area Council was cancelled due to what the returning officer described as irregularities. Following the development, tension mounted in the area, leading to the election being declared inconclusive.
In Abaji, the APC candidate, Abdulraham Ajiya, scored 12,792 votes, while the PDP candidate and the incumbent chairman, Alhaji Yahaya Garba polled 10,076 votes.
Before the elections were stopped, the PDP candidate in Kuje, Ishaku Tete, polled 11,478 while APC's Abdullahi Galadima scored 13,549.
Commenting on the situation, the FCT PDP Chairman, Alhaji Yahaya Suleiman, decried the whole exercise, alleging that it was planned by the APC to manipulate the exercise.
Attempts by the press to get the reaction of the APC FCT Chairman, Abdulmalik Usman, were unsuccessful as his telephone lines were not responding to calls put to them.
When contacted on the stalemated polls, INEC Deputy Director, Media and Publicity, Mr. Nick Dazang, said that the collation of results were still ongoing. He said a clearer picture of what transpired at the elections would be seen today.
Dazang blamed the heavy rains that almost disrupted the election process and some challenges which the commission encountered as responsible for the delay in completing the election. He said that only the results of Bwari Area Council and 26 councilor seats had been declared.
He said: "You know that it rained heavily (on Saturday) and there were some places where there were some challenges, like in Kwali and some other places. I am sure that by Monday we should be able to have a complete picture of the election.
As at the time we left the office, I know that the election result for Bwari was returned and also about 26 councillor seats were returned.
By tomorrow, we should be able to have a better picture of what has happened.
"We can say that the returns are still ongoing and have not been received from all the area councils where the election was conducted," Dazang said.
The affected councils are the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Gwagwalada and Kuje.
There was a serious protest in Gwagwalada council when INEC stopped the election, with the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) reportedly in a clear lead.
The results came almost 24 hours after elections were concluded in the FCT on Saturday. The APGA candidate in Gwagwalada, Adamu Mustapha, had polled 15,272 while the APC candidate, Abubakar Jibrin, scored 14,546 before the election was stopped. This was greeted with protests, with three persons being injured while two INEC cars were smashed in the ensuing fracas.
INEC returning officer in Gwagwalada, Adamu Tanimu and a political party agent were attacked by the aggrieved youths who accused the commission of rigging the election in favour of their preferred candidates.
Six youths were arrested by the police in the area in connection with the crisis.
There was also tension in Kuje and AMAC when the electoral body declared the elections inconclusive.
In AMAC, the chairmanship contest was declared inconclusive by the INEC Returning Officer, Prof. Sunday Ododo, of the University of Maiduguri. He was assisted by the AMAC Electoral Officer, Jummai Umar.
At the Karu Site collation centre for AMAC, the APC was leading with 26,602 votes while the PDP trailed with 21, 230 votes. Controversy however set in when 15,363 votes were cancelled, being more than the difference between the APC and the PDP.
However, in a quick reaction, the APC agent, Mr. Sani Bawa, told journalists that the party was ready for a rerun and would win any time the election was conducted.
The election in Dabi polling unit in Kwali Area Council was cancelled due to what the returning officer described as irregularities. Following the development, tension mounted in the area, leading to the election being declared inconclusive.
In Abaji, the APC candidate, Abdulraham Ajiya, scored 12,792 votes, while the PDP candidate and the incumbent chairman, Alhaji Yahaya Garba polled 10,076 votes.
Before the elections were stopped, the PDP candidate in Kuje, Ishaku Tete, polled 11,478 while APC's Abdullahi Galadima scored 13,549.
Commenting on the situation, the FCT PDP Chairman, Alhaji Yahaya Suleiman, decried the whole exercise, alleging that it was planned by the APC to manipulate the exercise.
Attempts by the press to get the reaction of the APC FCT Chairman, Abdulmalik Usman, were unsuccessful as his telephone lines were not responding to calls put to them.
When contacted on the stalemated polls, INEC Deputy Director, Media and Publicity, Mr. Nick Dazang, said that the collation of results were still ongoing. He said a clearer picture of what transpired at the elections would be seen today.
Dazang blamed the heavy rains that almost disrupted the election process and some challenges which the commission encountered as responsible for the delay in completing the election. He said that only the results of Bwari Area Council and 26 councilor seats had been declared.
He said: "You know that it rained heavily (on Saturday) and there were some places where there were some challenges, like in Kwali and some other places. I am sure that by Monday we should be able to have a complete picture of the election.
As at the time we left the office, I know that the election result for Bwari was returned and also about 26 councillor seats were returned.
By tomorrow, we should be able to have a better picture of what has happened.
"We can say that the returns are still ongoing and have not been received from all the area councils where the election was conducted," Dazang said.
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