The Peoples Democratic Party has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission to promptly declare the outstanding results of the Kuje Area Council chairmanship election, expressing concern over what it described as an unusual delay in the collation process.

In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, the party said results from two wards in Kuje — Kuje Central and Kabi — were yet to be announced, creating tension among party supporters.

According to the PDP, the delay is particularly troubling given what it claims is a marginal lead in the area.

The party alleged that the situation could expose the process to manipulation and called on the electoral umpire to safeguard the integrity of the exercise.

“We call on the Chairman of INEC to direct the immediate announcement of the outstanding results, many of which have already been uploaded on the IREV portal. The will of the people must not be compromised,” the statement read.

The party maintained that the sanctity of the ballot must be preserved, stressing that any deviation from due process would undermine public confidence in the election.

INEC officials, however, attributed the delay to logistical challenges.

The Supervising Resident Electoral Commissioner for the Kuje poll, Abubakar Dambo, explained that results from eight of the ten wards had been concluded, while collation was ongoing in the remaining two.

He cited issues involving collation officers as the cause of the setback.

Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress has celebrated its performance in the February 21 elections across the Federal Capital Territory, Kano, and Rivers states.

The party’s National Chairman, Nentawe Yilwatda, described the outcome as evidence of the APC’s growing grassroots support, listing Kuje among councils won by the party despite the pending final declaration.

Earlier results announced by INEC showed the APC winning in Abaji, Kwali, Abuja Municipal Area Council, and Bwari, while the PDP secured victory in Gwagwalada.

President Bola Tinubu had also congratulated winners of the elections, commending INEC, security agencies, and voters for what he described as the peaceful conduct of the polls.

Despite these commendations, opposition parties have continued to question aspects of the process, citing low voter turnout and alleged irregularities.

The PDP has already constituted a legal team to handle potential election petitions arising from the FCT Area Council polls.

The African Democratic Congress has rejected the outcome of the Saturday’s Federal Capital Territory Area Council elections, describing the exercise as flawed and vowing to challenge the results in court.

In a statement issued on Sunday after the declaration of winners by the Independent National Electoral Commission, the party alleged widespread irregularities, voter suppression and procedural breaches that, it claimed, undermined the credibility of the polls.

The elections, held across the six area councils namely; Abuja Municipal Area Council, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje, Kwali, and Abaji, saw candidates of the All Progressives Congress secure victories in five councils and PDP one council.

However, the ADC maintained that the results did not reflect the true will of the electorate.

The party accused electoral officials in some polling units of failing to adhere strictly to guidelines, citing alleged incidents of result manipulation and logistical lapses.

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President Bola Tinubu has congratulated winners of the just-concluded elections in the Federal Capital Territory, Kano State, and Rivers State, describing the outcomes as a testament to democratic resilience.

In a statement released by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the President noted that the Independent National Electoral Commission conducted polls across the six area councils of the FCT and held by-elections in designated state constituencies in Kano and Rivers states.

The elections covered chairmanship and councillorship seats in Abuja Municipal Area Council, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje, Kwali, and Abaji.

By-elections were also conducted in Kano Municipal and Ungogo constituencies in Kano State, as well as Ahoada East II and Khana II constituencies in Rivers State.

According to results declared by INEC, the All Progressives Congress secured victories in Abaji, Kwali, Abuja Municipal Area Council, and Bwari, while the Peoples Democratic Party clinched Gwagwalada Area Council. In Rivers State, the APC won both Ahoada East II and Khana II seats.

President Tinubu urged the elected officials to approach their mandates with humility, patriotism, and dedication, emphasizing that the trust reposed in them by voters must be upheld through service-driven leadership.

He also commended the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, for what he described as transformative leadership in the territory, noting that his developmental strides have translated into political gains for the ruling party.

The President extended his congratulations to the national leadership of the APC, as well as party structures in Kano and Rivers states, applauding members for their commitment throughout the electoral process.

Tinubu further praised INEC, security agencies, and voters for ensuring a peaceful exercise.

He acknowledged the participation of all candidates, stating that competitive engagement strengthens democratic culture and institutions.

He encouraged the electoral body to sustain and improve its standards in delivering credible elections nationwide.

Despite the commendations, reports indicated that voter turnout was relatively low in some areas, while opposition parties raised concerns over alleged irregularities.

The PDP has since constituted a legal team to challenge aspects of the FCT Area Council elections through the appropriate judicial channels.

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Joash Amupitan, has commended the conduct of the Federal Capital Territory area council elections, describing the exercise as peaceful, orderly and efficient.

Speaking with journalists on Saturday after monitoring voting activities in parts of the Abuja Municipal Area Council, Amupitan expressed satisfaction with the performance of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and the general turnout of voters.

He noted that accreditation using BVAS took only a few seconds in most polling units visited, significantly reducing waiting time and contributing to the smooth flow of the exercise.

According to him, reports from presiding officers indicated that the technology functioned effectively across the territory.

The INEC chairman praised voters, security personnel and election officials for maintaining calm and professionalism throughout the process.

He added that the peaceful atmosphere observed at the polling units reflected positive progress in Nigeria’s democratic journey.

Addressing concerns over the reported harassment of a journalist by security operatives, Amupitan said the commission promptly intervened to secure the journalist’s release, reaffirming INEC’s commitment to protecting accredited media personnel and observers.

While acknowledging minor delays in the deployment of materials and ad hoc staff in a few locations, he said the commission swiftly addressed the issues.

As of mid-morning, he disclosed, nearly all polling units across the FCT had opened for voting, with real-time monitoring ongoing from the situation room.

Amupitan assured residents that the commission remained committed to ensuring that every valid vote counts and pledged further improvements ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Henrietta Bulabari, has been declared winner of the Khana II State House of Assembly Constituency bye-election in Rivers State.

The Returning Officer, Angela Briggs, announced that Bulabari polled 7,647 votes to emerge victorious, having met the constitutional requirements.

According to the results released at the end of the exercise, the vote tally stood as follows: AA secured 46 votes, APC 7,647, NNPP 37, YPP 23, and ZLP 47.

Data from the poll showed that out of 71,914 registered voters, 7,834 were accredited to vote. A total of 7,800 votes were declared valid, while 34 ballots were rejected.

Party agents monitored the collation and declaration of the results.

Reacting to her victory, Bulabari expressed delight over the outcome, describing the election as free, fair and peaceful.

She pledged to initiate impactful constituency projects and ensure effective representation for the people of Khana II.

The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mohammed Kasim, has been declared winner of the Gwagwalada Area Council chairmanship election conducted as part of the 2026 Federal Capital Territory area council polls.

The Independent National Electoral Commission returning officer for Gwagwalada, Philip Akpen, announced the result in the early hours of Sunday, stating that Kasim polled 22,165 votes to defeat Yahaya Shehu of the All Progressives Congress, who secured 17,788 votes.

Akpen said the election was peaceful and orderly, adding that Kasim, having satisfied the requirements of the law, was duly returned elected.

Biko Umar of the All Progressives Grand Alliance finished third with 1,687 votes.

The area council elections were held across the six councils in the FCT — Abuja Municipal Area Council, Abaji, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje and Kwali — for both chairmanship and councillorship positions.

In Gwagwalada Area Council, 207,577 voters were registered, while 46,294 were accredited for the exercise.

A breakdown of the chairmanship results shows that the PDP scored 22,165 votes, APC 17,788, APGA 1,687, ADC 1,366, SDP 432, NNPP 175, YPP 158, AA 116, ADP 128, APM 24, while party A recorded 151 votes.

A total of 43,960 votes were declared valid, with 1,521 rejected ballots.

The Independent National Electoral Commission has declared Christopher Maikalangu of the All Progressives Congress as the elected chairman of the Abuja Municipal Area Council.

The collation officer for AMAC, Andrew Abue, said that Maikalangu, who is the incumbent AMAC chairman, was returned elected, having scored the highest number of votes cast — 40,295 out of the total number of valid votes of 62,861 in the election.

He said that the African Democratic Congress came second with 12,109 votes, while the Peoples Democratic Party polled 3,398 votes.

According to Abue, the rejected votes are 2,336 and the total valid votes are 62,861, while the total votes cast are 65,197.

He added that the number of registered voters in AMAC was 837,338, while the total number of accredited voters was 65,676.

“That Maikalangu of the APC, having certified the requirements of the law is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected,” Abue said.

The votes of the 12 political parties and their candidates that contested the election are as follows:

Agbon Vaniah of the Accord (A) – 403 votes;

Nemiebika Tamunomiesam of the Action Alliance (AA) – 108 votes; Paul Ogidi of African Democratic Congress (ADC) – 12,109 votes; Richard Elizabeth of the Action Democratic Party (ADP) – 588 votes;

Christopher Maikalangu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) – 40,295 votes; Eze Chukwu of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) – 1,111 votes; Chukwu Promise of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) – 122 votes; Ugoh Michael of the Action Peoples Party (APP) – 32 votes; Thomas Happiness of the Boot Party (BP) – 43 votes;

Jibrin Alhassan of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) – 1,694 votes; Samson Usani of the National Rescue Movement (NRM) – 73 votes;

Dantani Zanda of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – 3,398 votes; Iber Shimakaha of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) – 90 votes; Simon Obinna of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) – 2,185 votes;

Madaki Robert of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) – 421 votes; and Swani Buba of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) – 189 votes.

Speaking in an interview with journalists immediately after the announcement of the results, the APC collation agent, Gambo Babale, described the election and collation process as credible.

“INEC has done so well. We’ve seen the processes across all the polling units, the ward coalition centres and here at AMAC area council coalition centre. Everything was done perfectly well.

“They’ve tried. They’ve done everything humanly possible. I believe this high level of transparency occurred in all the coalition’s exercise that took place in AMAC.

“PDP won about two ward councillors, Karu and Karishi. That is to tell you the level of transparency that happens in this election,” he said.

While congratulating the winner, he said the victory was for Maikalangu to deliver more dividends of democracy to the people of AMAC.

Babale said that the results were an indication that the APC was ready for victory in 2027.

The YPP ward collation agent, Abdullahi Ibrahim, also described the collation process as transparent, while congratulating the winner.

The result sheets were signed by the ADC, APC, APGA, YPP and NNPP party agents present at the collation centre.

Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State has dismissed a viral prophecy predicting the impeachment of his deputy, Olayide Adelami, describing it as a distraction with no basis in reality.

The prophecy was made by Olumuyiwa Akogun, General Overseer of God Central Ministry in Ekiti State, in a video circulating on social media.

In the footage, the cleric claimed to have seen a vision of political turmoil in Ondo State involving the governor and his deputy.

According to him, the vision featured what looked like a breaking news announcement declaring that the deputy governor had been impeached.

He also described seeing the governor and his deputy standing behind each other holding a flag before a sudden storm separated them — which he interpreted as a sign of looming conflict.

“I saw breaking news. I saw the picture of the deputy governor, and I saw that he was impeached. The Lord told me that a step will be taken, and that step will cause chaos between the governor and the deputy. It shall be a serious problem,” the cleric said in the video.

Responding on Friday during the commissioning of the newly constructed Ayegunle-Iwaro Oka Road as part of activities marking his first anniversary in office, Governor Aiyedatiwa dismissed the prediction.

He said there was no plan to remove his deputy and stressed that Mr Adelami had not committed any offence to warrant such speculation.

The governor described his deputy as loyal and dependable, urging the public to disregard the viral claims.

“He is a loyal deputy,” the governor stated.
After the ceremony, Mr Aiyedatiwa proceeded to commission the Isuada-Iselu Road in Owo Local Government Area.

While recent ward congresses of the All Progressives Congress have generated tension in parts of the state — with reports of violence resulting in two deaths — there are no clear indications of any rift between the governor and his deputy.

Nonetheless, political discussions about succession and the future leadership of the state have intensified in recent weeks, fueling speculation in some quarters despite official reassurances from the government.