The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mohammed Kasim, has been declared the winner of the Gwagwalada Area Council chairmanship election, defeating his closest rival from the All Progressives Congress (APC), Yahaya Shehu.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Returning Officer for the election, Philip Akpen, announced the results on Saturday in Gwagwalada. Mr. Kasim secured a total of 22,165 votes to win the contest, while his APC counterpart, Mr. Shehu, polled 17,788 votes.
Declaring the election peaceful and smooth, the returning officer confirmed that Mr. Kasim met all the required criteria to be declared the winner of the highly contested poll.
A breakdown of the results released by INEC showed that the candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) came a distant third with 1,366 votes, while the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) polled 1,687 votes. Other parties in the race recorded significantly lower figures.
According to the official results, the Gwagwalada Area Council has 207,577 registered voters, with a total of 46,294 voters accredited for the election. The total valid votes cast were 43,960, while 1,521 votes were rejected.
The election, which was held across the six area councils of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), saw voters turn out to decide both chairmanship and councillorship positions.
During his campaign, Mr. Kasim’s manifesto focused on grassroots development, with key promises centered on community welfare, women’s empowerment, improved healthcare services, and enhanced educational opportunities for children in the area council.
His victory in Gwagwalada provides a significant morale boost for the PDP, which has recently been plagued by a severe internal crisis that has led to a division in its national leadership and the loss of high-profile governors and lawmakers to the ruling APC.
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