The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has officially declared Christopher Maikalangu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) chairmanship election, held on Saturday, February 21, 2026.
INEC’s Collation Officer for AMAC, Professor Andrew Abue, announced the results after tallying votes from all polling units across the council. According to the official figures, Maikalangu, who is the incumbent chairman, secured 40,295 votes out of 62,861 valid votes cast in the election.
Among other contestants, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate Paul Ogidi came second with 12,109 votes, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Dantani Zanda polled 3,398 votes. A total of 2,336 ballots were rejected, bringing the overall votes cast to 65,197.
INEC said that 65,676 voters were accredited for the election out of 837,338 registered voters in AMAC, reflecting the number of participants in the area council’s electorate.
Announcing the outcome, Prof. Abue stated that Maikalangu had “satisfied the requirements of the law” and was therefore “returned elected.” Agents from several political parties present at the collation centre signed the result sheets, underscoring the commission’s declaration.
Following the announcement, APC’s collation agent, Gambo Babale, described the electoral process as credible and commended INEC’s conduct, saying the commission “did everything humanly possible” to ensure transparency throughout the exercise.
Maikalangu’s victory consolidates the APC’s control of AMAC, one of the six area councils that make up the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), in this round of local government elections.


