By Nkechi Eze
The candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) election, Comrade Eze Onyebuchi Chukwu, has raised serious concerns over low voter turnout, missing result sheets, and alleged incidents of vote buying and voter suppression in parts of the Federal Capital Territory, even as he acknowledged that the exercise has remained largely peaceful.
Speaking while monitoring the election in his area, Chukwu said the general atmosphere across polling units was calm and reasonably fair but noted that critical lapses had been recorded.
“Well, for now, around the polling units everywhere is peaceful. It’s reasonably fair, but we also have a case in Durumi, Polling Unit 022, where officials refused to come with the original copy of the result sheet,” he said.
He explained that electoral officials claimed they had forgotten the result sheets at their office and had yet to return with them, forcing voting to halt at the affected polling unit.
“When they were asked, they said they forgot it in the office, and up to this moment I’m talking to you, they are yet to bring the result sheets. No vote is going on there because the result sheet is not available. It has to be tendered,” he said.
According to him, agents of other political parties protested the situation, while the ruling party agent remained passive.
“Every other party agent is complaining. Only the ruling party agent is silent and is just sitting in the car,” he added.
The APGA candidate also alleged that security personnel initially stationed near the polling unit were moved to a nearby chief’s palace, a development he said had raised concerns among stakeholders.
Chukwu further alleged incidents of voter exclusion in some communities around Kagini, where he claimed certain residents were prevented from voting because they were not considered indigenes.
“There are cases in some villages close to Kagini where the indigenes have refused non-indigenes to vote. They are telling them that as long as you are not an indigene, you cannot vote here,” he said.
He also raised alarm over alleged vote buying, claiming that voters were being induced and intimidated in some locations.
“In some places, there is massive vote buying. People are being threatened. Even if you don’t collect the money, they try to stop you from passing,” he alleged.
Despite the peaceful environment, Chukwu expressed deep disappointment over what he described as extremely low voter turnout across polling units.
“All the way from my house to here, I didn’t see voters. Some polling units, you go there, you don’t see anybody. The officials are just sitting down.”
He said the low turnout was surprising given the level of mobilisation and campaign efforts invested by political actors ahead of the election.
“I have never seen any area council election in the FCT that is as quiet as this one. We put a lot of effort into the campaign. I was expecting people to troop out and vote,” he said.
Chukwu warned that neglecting grassroots elections could weaken governance and leadership quality across the country.
“We don’t always have value for area council elections, yet we want to have the best governance at the top. It’s not possible for us to get a good head with rotten body parts,” he said.
He stressed that credible leadership must be built from the grassroots upward, noting that strong local governance forms the foundation of national progress.
“It’s only when we fix competent hands from the grassroots to higher levels that we can begin to talk about having good leadership,” he added.
Expressing frustration over the situation, he said, “I am not happy because we are chasing shadows when fire is burning our house. We are busy chasing rats.”
