Bauchi Council Polls: APM Clears All 20 LGA Chairmanship Seats

The Allied People’s Movement (APM) has won all 20 chairmanship seats in Monday’s local government council elections in Bauchi State.

Chairperson of the Bauchi State Independent Electoral Commission (BASIEC), Jummai Abubakar, announced the results Monday night, declaring that APM candidates also won 319 of the 323 councillorship seats contested.

Four other councillorship seats went to candidates from opposition parties, including the Social Democratic Party (SDP), National Rescue Movement (NRM), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) and Young Progressives Party (YPP).

Abubakar assured residents that the elections were conducted independently and that winners were duly elected after satisfying applicable legal requirements and securing the highest number of valid votes in their respective constituencies.

Opposition Boycott Fails to Halt Poll, Says Gov. Mohammed

The Coalition of Opposition Parties in the state had, on Sunday, announced its decision to boycott the election, alleging that the exercise was designed to favour the ruling APM.

However, Governor Bala Mohammed, speaking shortly after casting his vote, described the process as peaceful and said the withdrawal of some political parties would not undermine the legitimacy of the election.

The Bauchi State Government had declared Monday a work-free day across the state, allowing civil servants and other public servants at the local, state and federal levels, as well as employees in the banking sector, to participate fully in the exercise.

The sweep extends the APM’s dominance of local government structures in Bauchi, a state Governor Mohammed has led since 2019, and comes as parties nationwide position themselves ahead of Nigeria’s next election cycle.

BASIEC, the body responsible for conducting local government elections in the State independently of the national electoral commission, said the results would be forwarded to the state House of Assembly for formal ratification.

It said winners would be sworn in at a later date to begin their tenure leading the state’s 20 local government councils.