Nigeria’s main opposition party has inaugurated a special legal team to challenge the outcome of Saturday’s local elections in the federal capital, after the governing party secured five of the six area council chairmanships in a contest marked by low turnout and allegations of vote buying.
The Peoples Democratic Party said on Sunday it would contest the results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which showed candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) prevailing in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Abaji, Bwari, Kwali and Kuje. The PDP’s lone victory came in Gwagwalada.
In a statement signed by its national publicity secretary, Ini Ememobong, the party congratulated its winning candidates but alleged widespread irregularities and intimidation. A legal team led by its national legal adviser, Shafi Bara’u, has been tasked with challenging the results, while aggrieved candidates were urged to act swiftly.
The PDP claimed that armed security personnel were used in some locations to seize result sheets and intimidate voters, describing the polls as marred by “high-powered money politics and brazen executive brigandage”. It also linked what it called “incredible voter apathy” to provisions of the Electoral Act 2026, arguing that public confidence in the process had ebbed.
Official figures underline the scale of disengagement. Of 1,680,315 registered voters in the Federal Capital Territory, just over 239,000 cast ballots – roughly 15%, according to INEC. Though modestly higher than participation in the 2022 council elections, the turnout remains strikingly low for the seat of national government.
In AMAC, the most populous council, APC candidate Christopher Maikalangu was declared elected with 40,295 votes out of 62,861 valid ballots. The African Democratic Congress came second with 12,109 votes, while the PDP trailed with 3,398. In Bwari, Joshua Ishaku of the APC secured 18,466 votes, comfortably ahead of his nearest rivals.
Abaji, Kwali and Kuje followed a similar pattern. In Kuje, APC candidate Danjuma Shekwolo polled 17,269 votes to defeat the PDP’s Zakwoyi Danlami, who scored 15,824. INEC attributed a delay in announcing the Kuje result to difficult terrain in Kabi ward that slowed collation.
The PDP’s solitary success came in Gwagwalada, where Mohammed Kasim defeated the APC’s Yahaya Shehu with 22,165 votes to 17,788. Even there, turnout was limited: of more than 207,000 registered voters, fewer than 46,300 were accredited.
INEC said 93% of polling unit results had been uploaded to its results viewing portal by Sunday afternoon. The commission denied claims that voters had been migrated to new polling units, explaining that it had instead created “split polling units” in overcrowded areas to ease congestion, with affected voters notified in advance by text and email.
While the electoral body praised residents for what it called a peaceful exercise, law enforcement agencies reported a series of arrests. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission said it had detained 20 suspects for alleged electoral offences, including vote buying and obstruction of officers. A total of N17.2m (£approximate equivalent not provided) was recovered, including N13.5m found in a vehicle parked beside a polling booth in Kwali. The commission said the suspects would be charged after investigations.
For the ruling party, the outcome was framed as a political endorsement. In a statement issued by his spokesperson, President Bola Tinubu congratulated the winners and described their mandates as a “sacred trust”, urging humility in office. He commended INEC and security agencies for what he termed the peaceful conduct of the vote.
The APC’s national chairman, Nentawe Yilwatda, cast the result as a “resounding endorsement” of the president’s reform agenda, arguing that strong support in the capital sent a national message of confidence in the government. He also congratulated the PDP’s winner in Gwagwalada as evidence, he said, that the will of the electorate had been respected.
The minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, likewise praised the peaceful conduct of the elections, saying they clarified Nigeria’s political landscape and exposed what he described as the “hypocrisy” of some government critics.
For the PDP, however, the battle now shifts from polling stations to the courts. With general elections due in 2027, the dispute over Abuja’s councils risks becoming an early test of confidence in Nigeria’s electoral framework – and of how far legal challenges can recalibrate a political verdict already declared.
