By Achile Danjuma
The All Progressives Congress and its candidate, Yahaya Usman, have officially challenged the declaration of Mohammed Kasim of the Peoples Democratic Party as the winner of the February 21, 2026, chairmanship election in Gwagwalada Area Council.
In a petition marked FCT/ACEPT/EP/02/2026 and obtained by our correspondent on Thursday, the APC is asking the FCT Election Petition Tribunal to nullify the results, alleging widespread irregularities and a breach of the Electoral Act, 2026. The Independent National Electoral Commission had declared Kasim the winner with 22,165 votes, while Usman polled 17,788 votes.
The petitioners are seeking the nullification of the election on three major grounds: alleged non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026, widespread corrupt practices, and the claim that the declared winner did not secure the majority of lawful votes cast. According to the petition, the election, conducted across 10 wards and 338 polling units, was marred by irregularities involving electoral officials.
The APC and its candidate specifically allege that the results in at least six polling units were mutilated and altered to match the number of accredited voters and conceal cases of over-voting. These affected polling units were spread across Kutunku, Ibwa, Tungan Maje, and Ikwa wards. The petition states that results issued to the petitioners by INEC on Forms EC8A were altered, changed, or suppressed to avoid over-voting, and that there were glaring cancellations on the face of results in these units.
Furthermore, the party claims that in two polling units, votes scored by the APC were deliberately suppressed during collation. The petition also cites 102 polling units where substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act allegedly occurred, alongside eight polling units where officials reportedly engaged in result manipulation, including erasures, cancellations, and the rewriting of figures on result sheets.
In addition, the petitioners alleged wrongful accreditation of voters in 71 polling units across six wards, accusing electoral officials of failing to properly tick voters’ details in the register as required by law. They argued that despite these irregularities, INEC proceeded to collate and rely on the affected votes in declaring the PDP candidate as the winner.