There was a tense tension at a ward collation centre in Garki, Abuja, following a dispute between party agents and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission over the handling of councillorship election results.
The disagreement started during the collation of votes for the councillorship contest. Party agents accused electoral officials of blocking access to the result sheets before announcing the final figures.
Witnesses at the centre said party representatives were earlier allowed to cross-check figures for the chairmanship election. This process was reportedly carried out calmly and in line with procedure.
However, the atmosphere changed when officials moved to declare councillorship results without permitting agents to verify the numbers with their own records.
The move triggered loud protests and heated exchanges inside the collation hall. Several agents insisted that the same level of transparency given during the chairmanship collation should apply to the councillorship exercise.
One aggrieved party agent openly challenged the officials and demanded that the figures be reviewed before any declaration was made.
“Sir, we disagree with this final figures. Let’s confirm them with our record. You were there when during the chairmanship, they brought the figures, we checked, so can’t they allow us to do the same for councillorship? They just declare it like that without us checking the figures?” the agent said.
He added, “We disagree with these figures, let’s check them. Who does that? Let’s see it.”
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The confrontation briefly disrupted the collation process and caused confusion among voters and party supporters present at the centre.
The incident is one of several disputes recorded during the Federal Capital Territory Area Council elections, which have been marked by complaints of procedural lapses, delays and low voter turnout in some wards.
Meanwhile, early results released from the chairmanship elections show that the All Progressives Congress has taken the lead in key councils.
The party has so far secured victories in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Bwari Area Council and Kwali Area Council. Two other chairmanship results are still being awaited.
The Peoples Democratic Party won the Gwagwalada Area Council seat.
In AMAC, APC candidate Christopher Maikalangu polled 40,295 votes to defeat his closest challenger from the African Democratic Congress, who scored 12,109 votes. The PDP candidate recorded 3,398 votes. Maikalangu is the incumbent chairman.
In Bwari Area Council, APC’s Joshua Ishaku emerged winner with 18,466 votes. The ADC candidate came second with 4,254 votes, while the Zenith Labour Party candidate secured 3,515 votes.
