The candidate of the African Democratic Congress in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) chairmanship election, Moses Paul, has rejected the outcome of the February 21 poll.
Paul alleged widespread irregularities and insisted that the declared results did not reflect the true will of the people.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Monday, he accused the Independent National Electoral Commission of mishandling the election. He cited alleged voter suppression, result manipulation, intimidation of party supporters and vote-buying across several wards.
On Sunday, INEC declared Christopher Maikalangu of the All Progressives Congress as the duly elected chairman of AMAC.
The AMAC Collation Officer, Andrew Abue, announced that Maikalangu, the incumbent chairman, secured 40,295 votes out of the 62,861 valid votes recorded in the election.
According to the results, Paul polled 12,109 votes to finish second, while the Peoples Democratic Party garnered 3,398 votes.
Reacting to the announcement, Paul maintained that he had won the people’s mandate. He rejected the results declared by INEC, describing them as inconsistent with the wishes of Abuja residents.
“I stand before you today not as a man diminished by the outcome of Saturday’s event, but as a man empowered by a political movement,” he said.
He added that residents across communities such as Karshi, Wuse, Nyanya and Gwi had shown strong support for his candidacy during the campaign.
Paul further alleged that the election process was marred by serious irregularities. These included restriction of movement through the imposition of a curfew, alteration and mutilation of polling unit results, intimidation and attacks on ADC supporters, and massive vote-buying in several wards.
He also claimed that voter suppression occurred due to the late arrival of election materials in key polling units, including Kabusa.
According to him, the reported death of Musa Abubakar at the Gwagwa polling unit while resisting alleged result alteration highlighted the severity of the situation.
“These actions undermine the integrity of the electoral process and the confidence of the people in our democracy,” Paul stated.
He insisted that his political movement was built on conviction and truth, not on political titles, and urged his supporters—particularly young voters—to remain steadfast.
The development signals potential post-election disputes in the Abuja Municipal Area Council, as the ADC candidate continues to challenge the credibility of the poll.
