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FCT elections: INEC declares AMAC, others inconclusive

By Terhemba Daka and Emeka Anuforo (Abuja)
11 April 2016   |   1:41 am
The results of last week Area Council elections in the Federal Capital Territory released by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, indicates that the candidate of All Progressives...

INEC-box• CSOs says election exposes INEC’s shoddy preparations

The results of last week Area Council elections in the Federal Capital Territory released by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, indicates that the candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC, in Abuja Municipal Area Council, AMAC, Hon. Abudulahi Adamu Candido polled a total of 26,602 votes as against his closest rival, Hon. Bitrus Tanko of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, who scored 21230 votes.

However, the Returning Officer, Prof. Sunday Enesi Ododo yesterday declared the election inconclusive.

He said 15,360 registered votes in some of the units in Garki, Gwarinpa, Gui, Karshi, Karu and Nyanya wards were cancelled. He disclosed that the cancelled votes were more than the margin of 5372 between the two leading candidates hence a winner cannot be declared.

Ododo who teaches at the University of Maiduguri explained that the total number of 475,710 was registered with 54,940 accredited to vote. He said the exercise recorded 49,230 valid votes cast, while a total of 2316 votes were rejected.

In Abaji Area Council, the APC candidate, Alhaji Abdulrahman Ajiya, scored 12, 792, while the incumbent chairman, Alhaji Yahaya Garba Gawu, of the PDP, polled 10, 076. Also the Returning Officer, Mr. Daniel Emanuel declared the election inconclusive.

Gwagwalada Area Council result as announced by the Returning Officer, Dr. Adamu Tanimu showed that the incumbent chairman and candidate of APC, Hon. Abubakar Giri scored 14546, while the APGA candidate, Hon. Adamu Mustspha polled 15272 votes, and Abdullahi Umar of the PDP scored 6082 votes. The election was also declared inconclusive.

Also in Kuje, the result released by the Returning Officer, Dr. Nicholas Belikatu showed that the candidate of APC, Hon. Abdulhi Galadima scored 13549 votes, while the APGA candidate, Hon. Haruna Esu polled 5515 votes and the PDP candidate, Hon. Shaban Tete scored 11478 votes.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room (also known as Situation Room) has berated the Independent National Electoral Committee (INEC) over its alleged poor planning for eventualities during elections.

In a statement issued at the end of the Area Council elections conducted in the Federal Capital Territory by INEC, the CSOs picked holes in many aspects of the election, including how rain disrupted conduct of the elections in many areas.

The situation room also identified pitfalls in the capacity of the INEC ad-hoc officials to handle the elections, calling for better trainings for such staff.

In the statement signed on behalf of the CSOs by Clement Nkwanko, they noted: “The re-introduced voting process (simultaneous accreditation and voting) led to a significant reduction in tensions usually associated with the previous process of separating accreditation from voting.

“There was an improvement in the logistics for the election as there were only isolated reports of difficulty of the card reader to read the fingerprints. In such cases, incident forms were readily available for documentation.

“The publicity and mobilization associated with this election seemed inadequate as many residents got knowledge about the election and restriction of movement too late to the Election Day. We think that the electoral body, the National Orientation Agency and the political parties should have done more in this regard.

“There was a seeming lack of interest in the elections especially by residents in the more urban centres of the FCT. It was a marked departure from the participation in the last general elections conducted in the territory in 2015.”

It continued: “At PU005 Demonstration Primary School, Gwagwalada, potential voters raised concerns about party agents milling too close to the polling booth thus denying secrecy of the vote at this polling unit.

Situation Room observed that the early afternoon showers in many locations in the territory disrupted the conduct of the elections and exposed the lack of provision by the electoral commission for such eventuality.

It charged INEC to devise a comprehensive and permanent solution to the recurring incidents of ad-hoc staff showing poor knowledge of the procedure for the elections, even though it was an isolated report in the present election.

“The electoral body should always take cognisance of the seasons and weather conditions when deploying logistics for the election. We call on INEC to ensure that all polling units are accessible to all persons especially the physically challenged.”

HOW AMAC RESULT STANDS
Gwagwa ward—-APC scored 3223, while PDP polled 1825.
Kabusa—————-APC scored 1938, while PDP polled 2289
Karishi——————APC scored 2619, while PDP polled 1900
City Center———APC scored 2106, while PDP polled 1059
Nyanya—————-APC scored 1908, while PDP polled 1924
Orozo——————APC scored 1202, while PDP polled 1955
Garki——————-APC scored 2010, while PDP polled 2452
Karu——————-APC scored 1670, while PDP polled 2143
Gwarinpa————APC scored 2598, while PDP polled 2250
Wuse———————APC scored 2178, while PDP polled 759
Gui———————-APC scored 1342, while PDP polled 1537
Jiwa———————APC scored 3808, while PDP polled 2137
TOTAL: APC—-26602 votes PDP—-21230 votes

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