The Coalition of Civil Society Groups in the Nigerian Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has rated the February 21 Chairmanship and Councillorship elections in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) as peaceful, credible, and a reflection of the people’s will.
The Head of the Coalition, Mr Boluwaji Adeyemi, spoke on Thursday during a press conference in Abuja to present the group’s observation report on the exercise.
Adeyemi noted that despite a generally low voter turnout across the 12 wards of the council, the election was conducted without widespread disruptions or criminal incidents.
According to him, “Observers arrived as early as 7:10 a.m. to monitor opening procedures, accreditation, voting, and counting.
”We observed that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines worked perfectly, and the voters’ registers were available in all polling units visited.
The conduct of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) showed significant improvement compared to previous elections. Cases of vote-buying and security breaches were minimal,” he said.
The coalition also lauded the professionalism and neutrality displayed by security agencies, including the Police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
According to the results announced by INEC and cited by the coalition, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Christopher Maikalangu, emerged winner after polling 40,295 votes.
The results for other top contenders showed the African Democratic Congress (ADC) scored 12,109 votes, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) got 3,398 votes, while the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) polled 2,185 and 1,694 votes, respectively.
Adeyemi, however, urged INEC to further improve its logistics arrangements and ensure earlier commencement of polls in future exercises.
“INEC should carry out extensive education to raise voter awareness, while political parties must actively engage in voter mobilisation to address the trend of diminishing turnout.
”The overall conduct of this election is well-accepted by the residents of AMAC,” he added.
The coalition also recommended continuous training for poll officers on the effective configuration and use of accreditation devices to sustain the gains recorded.