PDP heads to court over FCT poll results, citing irregularities

The Peoples Democratic Party has set up a legal team and indicated it may challenge the results of the Federal Capital Territory Area Council elections in court, alleging widespread irregularities despite winning only one of six chairmanship seats.

The party congratulated its successful candidates while lamenting that the victory was less in number than it anticipated, stating: “The party victory is against the background of unprecedented intimidation, high-powered money politics and brazen executive brigandage”.

“Reports and video evidence abound where armed security personnel were used to cart away result sheets in polling units, intimidate voters, and unduly influence the outcome of the elections,” the PDP stated.

The All Progressives Congress dominated Saturday’s elections, winning the chairmanship seats in Abuja Municipal Area Council, Abaji, Bwari, Kwali, and Kuje, while the PDP secured only Gwagwalada Area Council.

The PDP has set up a special Legal Team, headed by National Legal Adviser Shafi Bara’u, to attend to candidates who have genuine complaints arising from the elections and to assist with post-election matters.

Beyond alleging electoral malpractice, the PDP blamed massive voter apathy on the controversial Electoral Act 2026. “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,” the party said.

“These local council polls may just be a foreshadowing of the forthcoming general elections in 2027 if changes are not urgently made,” the statement added.

INEC reported that over 239,210 voters participated in the election, representing approximately 15 percent of the 1,680,315 registered voters in the FCT—an improvement from the 9.4 percent turnout in the 2022 Area Council elections, but still reflecting widespread apathy.

In Gwagwalada, the PDP’s Mohammed Kasim defeated the APC’s Yahaya Shehu with 22,165 votes to 17,788 votes. In AMAC, however, the APC’s Christopher Maikalangu was re-elected with 40,295 votes, while the PDP secured only 3,398 votes—a distant third behind the African Democratic Congress’s 12,109 votes.

The APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, hailed the results as “a resounding endorsement of the ongoing reforms and governance direction of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” though he also congratulated the PDP chairmanship candidate in Gwagwalada as evidence that “the will of the people was respected.”

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission arrested 20 suspects during the election for offences including vote buying and vote selling, recovering N17,218,700, including N13.5 million found in a vehicle parked beside a polling booth in Kwali.

As the PDP prepares potential legal challenges, attention now turns to whether the courts will entertain petitions alleging irregularities in elections that saw historically low voter participation and overwhelming dominance by the ruling party.