By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
The outcome of the elections held in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Rivers, and Kano states on Saturday, February 21, has sparked reactions among Nigerians.
While some applauded the conduct of the elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), others noted that the outcome was no surprise given that the elections were mostly won by candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Area Council elections in the FCT had 637 candidates jostling for 68 positions, comprising 62 councillors and six chairperson seats.
The candidates include two incumbent chairpersons, Abubakar Abdullahi of Abaji Area Council and Christopher Maikalangu of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), who are seeking re-election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
INEC also scheduled by-elections in the Ahoada East II and Khana II State constituencies of Rivers State, and in the Kano Municipal and Ungogo constituencies in Kano State.
According to results announced by INEC, the APC swept the seats in Rivers and Kano by-elections, and also won in five out of the six chairmanship positions in the FCT, with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) winning in Gwagwalada Area Council.
The PDP candidate for Gwagwalada Area Council, Mohammed Kasim, polled 22,165 votes to defeat Yahaya Shehu of the APC, who scored 17,788 votes.
In AMAC, the incumbent and APC candidate, Maikalangu, secured 40,295 votes to win the election. Moses Paul of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) came second with 12,109 votes, while the PDP polled 3,398 votes.
In the Bwari Area Council, Joshua Ishaku, the APC candidate, won the election with 18,466 votes; ADC scored 4,254 votes, while Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) polled 3,515 votes, placing second and third, respectively.
The APC candidate in Kwali Area Council, Daniel Nuhu, won the election after he scored 17,032 votes, while the PDP came second with 8,575 votes.
In Abaji Area Council, Umar Abdullahi Abubakar, incumbent and APC candidate, won the election with 15,535 votes, while the PDP scored 4,547 votes.
In Kuje Area council, Danjuma Samuel, APC candidate, polled 17,269 votes to defeat Zakwoyi Danlami of the PDP, who scored 15,824 votes.
The ADC, the coalition party of opposition leaders, did not win any chairmanship seat in the FCT Area Council election.
Some Nigerians took to social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook to share their opinion on the outcome of the elections.
On X, @FactTalkNigeria tweeted, “You cannot have a fair game when the referee is appointed by one of the players. The capture of INEC by the executive leads to the irregularities we saw in AMAC polls. It’s time for the international community to hold leadership accountable.”
@briltril added, “We should have also insisted on removing the power of the president to appoint INEC officials, including the chairman, just like mandatory transmission of results! That way, we can have zero interference from the executive.”
Also, @AkayiHosea72807 wrote, “This is the reason the APC rejected electronic voting, real-time transmission of results. Rigging machines, mutilated result sheets, same people will later complain of bad governance. Prelude to 2027.”
Reacting to the outcome of the elections on Facebook, Adebanjo Joshua wrote, “No opposition can defeat Asiwaju come 2027.”
Also, Hassan Adamou said, “God bless Tinubu and Wike. We’ll show them federal might in 2027.”
Godwin Okoh wrote, “The election is about individuals, not parties. We in the city center love Makalangu, so we voted for him, not APC, so don’t use the outcome to conclude the presidential because we will still vote individuals based on competence, not political party.”
Obiezu Chukwuma noted, “I don’t think the opposition should waste their resources in next year’s election.”
