FCT Decides: PDP Decries Low Turnout, Sets Up Legal Team for Post-Election Litigation

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has lamented the low voter turnout during the Federal Capital Territory Area Council elections, while congratulating the winners from its fold and setting up a legal team for post-election litigation.

In a post-election statement signed on Sunday by Comrade Ini Ememobong, the PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, the party specifically congratulated the Chairman-elect of Gwagwalada Area Council, Mohammed Kasim, and the Councillors who have been declared successful by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

According to the statement, the party expressed that the victory is gladdening despite the numbers and unprecedented intimidation and what it described as “high-powered money politics.”

The statement reads, “The National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party has congratulated successful candidates of the PDP in the Area Council Elections which were held in Abuja on February 21, 2026.

“This victory, though less in number than we anticipated, is particularly gladdening because it is against the background of unprecedented intimidation, high-powered money politics and brazen executive brigandage.

“Reports and video evidence abound where armed security personnel were used to cart away result sheets in polling units, intimidate voters, and unduly influence the outcome of the elections.”

The statement added, “We specifically congratulate the Chairman-elect of Gwagwalada Area Council, Mohammed Kasim, and the Councillors who have been declared successful by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).”

PDP disclosed that the it has set up a special legal team headed by National Legal Adviser, Shafi Bara’u to attend to candidates with genuine complaints arising from the just concluded FCT elections.

The statement added, “We have set up a special Legal Team, headed by the National Legal Adviser, Shafi Bara’u,Esq, to attend to candidates who have genuine complaints arising from these elections and to assist with post-election litigations. They should immediately contact the National Legal Adviser for prompt action, as delay is fatal in election petition cases.

“The incredible voter apathy in these polls is a direct response to the anti-people Electoral Act 2026, where the people have completely lost faith in the electoral outcomes from elections conducted under this Act. These Local Council polls may just be a foreshadowing of the forthcoming general elections in 2027, if changes are not urgently made.”

“There is time to correct the wrongdoing by the National Assembly and the President to save our democracy from collapse,” the statement concluded.