AMAC, Kuje elections declared inconclusive

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April 11, 2016 11:27 AM

The Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) elections in the Federal Capital Territory have been declared inconclusive.

This followed evidence raised over 15,360 disfranchised voters in some polling units by the collation officer, Prof. Sunday Ododo of the University of Maiduguri, who declared the chairmanship election inconclusive.

The affected areas that led to the declaration of the election inconclusive includes: Karu-8,044 voters, Garki -2,243 voters, Guyi-2,628, Gwarinpa -1,628 voters, Karshi-653, and Nyanya 17 voters.

Prof. Ododo while declaring the result said among the two conditions to be satisfied before a candidate can be declared winner was that the winner must score the majority of votes cast.

He said the margin between the two leading parties, All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was 5,372 votes.

The APC had scored 26,602 votes while the PDP polled 21, 230 votes.

Ododo said 15,360 votes in 14 polling units which were cancelled, was more than the margin between the two candidates adding that a run-off will be conducted in the affected areas.

Also, The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has also declared chairmanship elections in Kuje Area Council conducted on Saturday inconclusive.

The returning Officer for the election in Kuje, Mr Nicholas Belikatu, who declared the exercise inconclusive on Sunday, 10 April 2016 said that none of the three candidates leading in the contest met the criteria to be declared winner.

According to him, INEC guideline provided that a party must win with a simple majority of the votes cast and must scored two-third spread across the 10 wards and number of cancelled votes should not exceed the difference between winner’s votes and runner-up’s.

“The election results did not meet the three INEC criteria in some polling units. Therefore the results sheets and other materials will be moved to the INEC office at Area 10 for review but the chairmanship election remains inconclusive,’’ Belikatu said.

He had announced that All Progressive Congress (APC) candidate scored 13,549 votes, People Democratic Party (PDP), 11, 478 votes and All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), 5, 516 votes.

Meanwhile, the All Progressive candidate in Bwari Area Council, Musa Dikko, has been declared winner of the election conducted last Saturday by INEC.

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