Mohammed Kasim, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, has won the Gwagwalada Area Council chairmanship election conducted on Saturday in the Federal Capital Territory.
Kasim polled 22,165 votes to overcome Yahaya Shehu of the All Progressives Congress, who secured 17,788 votes in the keenly contested poll.
The Returning Officer, Philip Akpen, declared the outcome in the early hours of Sunday, noting that the exercise was orderly and without major incidents.
Akpen affirmed that Kasim, having met the constitutional requirements and scored the highest number of lawful votes cast, was duly returned elected as chairman of Gwagwalada Area Council.
In the final tally, Biko Umar of the All Progressives Grand Alliance finished third with 1,687 votes.
Official figures showed that 207,577 voters were registered in the council, while 46,294 were accredited to participate in the election.
Out of the ballots cast, 43,960 were declared valid, with 1,521 rejected.
Other political parties recorded the following votes: ADC – 1,366; SDP – 432; NNPP – 175; YPP – 158; ADP – 128; AA – 116; A – 151; and APM – 24.
The Gwagwalada contest was one of the chairmanship and councillorship elections held across the six area councils of the Federal Capital Territory.
