Mohammed Kasim, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, has been declared winner of the Gwagwalada Area Council chairmanship election in the Federal Capital Territory.
The poll was conducted on Saturday across the six area councils of the FCT, while the final result for Gwagwalada was announced in the early hours of Sunday.
The Returning Officer for the council, Philip Akpen, announced that Kasim secured 22,165 votes to defeat his closest rival, Yahaya Shehu of the All Progressives Congress, who scored 17,788 votes. Biko Umar of the All Progressives Grand Alliance came third with 1,687 votes.
According to the official figures released, the total number of registered voters in Gwagwalada stood at 207,577. Out of this number, 46,294 voters were accredited for the election. The total valid votes recorded were 43,960, while 1,521 ballots were rejected.
Other parties that participated in the chairmanship race received the following votes: A scored 151, AA had 116, ADC polled 1,366, ADP received 128, APM got 24, NNPP scored 175, SDP had 432, and YPP recorded 158 votes.
The Returning Officer stated that the election in the area council was conducted peacefully and in an orderly manner. With the announcement, Kasim was declared duly elected in line with the provisions of the law.
The FCT local government elections covered Abuja Municipal Area Council, Abaji, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje and Kwali, where voters elected chairmen and councillors.