Christopher Maikalangu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) chairmanship election, has won his polling unit in Saturday’s council elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) by a significant margin.
Voting at Polling Unit 004, Garki Village 2, saw Mr Maikalangu secure 229 votes. His closest rival, Paul Ogidi of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), polled 15 votes, while Onyebuchi Chukwu of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) received one vote.
Mr Maikalangu is one of two incumbent area council chairmen seeking a second term, alongside Abubakar Abdullahi of Abaji Area Council. Both are completing their first term under the APC platform. The FCT comprises six area councils in total, Premium Times reported.
Before voting began, notable figures including Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, and the Minister of State for the FCT, Mariya Bunkure, visited the polling unit, which is located within Mr Maikalangu’s family compound.
Speaking after casting his vote, Mr Maikalangu described the electoral process as seamless. “I am impressed with the turnout today; you can see that my people are out here to vote. I am satisfied with the process. In less than three minutes, I cast my vote. I think everything is okay,” he said.
At Mr Maikalangu’s polling unit, 252 voters were accredited and cast their ballots out of 2,287 registered voters.
Across AMAC, some polling units faced low turnout and logistical challenges, with intermittent malfunctions of the fingerprint component of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) leading officials to rely on facial recognition for voter verification.
The results underscore Mr Maikalangu’s strong support base within his polling unit as the council-wide counting continues.
