The Federal Capital Territory’s Area Council elections have turned to blame games as the African Democratic Congress openly confronted the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, over his movement across polling units during the elections.
The party in a statement accused the minister of overstepping his bounds and attempting to influence the atmosphere at voting centres.
“The African Democratic Congress strongly condemns the movement of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, around various polling units in Abuja under the guise of monitoring.
“Wike’s monitoring exercise, after unilaterally imposing a curfew on potential voters, represents direct interference in the election,” the statement reads.
Signed by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the statement insisted that the minister had no constitutional role in the process, stressing that he “is not a registered voter in the FCT, and as a known partisan and cabinet minister, he has no constitutional role in the exercise.”
The ADC raised further alarm over alleged irregularities, pointing to “alleged collaboration between APC agents and some security personnel,” while urging its members to “remain calm but vigilant, and to document all incidents.”
Adding to the controversy, the party claimed the INEC Result Viewing Portal “has remained inaccessible even as results are being collated,” and demanded that the commission “urgently restore full IReV functionality, with a clear public explanation of the disruption.”
Describing Wike’s presence during active voting as “vexatious and meddlesome” and warning that it “risks intimidating voters and officials,” the ADC called on citizens to report every irregularity.
Meanwhile, videos released by Wike’s media aide, Olayinka Lere, showed the minister at polling units in Karu, Karshi and Garki.
After touring the centres and interacting with voters, Wike painted a different picture, saying the elections were peaceful, security personnel performed well, and turnout in satellite towns was “quite impressive,” though participation in the city centre appeared low.
