The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the incumbent chairman of the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Christopher Zakka Maikalangu, winner of Saturday’s council election, securing him a fresh mandate and consolidating his grip on Nigeria’s most politically strategic area council.
Maikalangu, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), polled 40,295 votes out of 62,861 valid ballots to defeat 14 other contenders. The African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, Paul Ogidi, finished second with 12,109 votes, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Dantani Zanda, came third with 3,398 votes.
Announcing the result at the AMAC collation centre, Returning Officer Prof. Andrew Abue said:
“Christopher Maikalangu of the APC, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected.”
Out of 837,338 registered voters in AMAC, 65,676 were accredited. A total of 65,197 votes were cast, with 2,336 rejected ballots.
Speaking after casting his vote earlier in the day, Maikalangu described the process as seamless, though he noted minor logistical lapses in some polling units. He commended voter turnout, particularly in satellite and rural communities, and pledged to focus his second term on youth empowerment and grassroots development.
APC’s collation agent, Gambo Babale, hailed the exercise as credible and transparent, pointing to the party’s loss of two ward councillorship seats to the PDP in Karu and Karshi as evidence of fairness. Agents of other parties, including the Young Progressives Party (YPP), also endorsed the collation process, with result sheets signed by multiple party representatives.
Maikalangu’s re-election reinforces APC’s foothold in AMAC, a council often regarded as a bellwether in Nigeria’s capital politics.
By Eunice Orike, Abuja
