The All Progressives Congress (APC) has won all 24 chairmanship seats and all 240 councillor positions in the Gombe State local government elections.
Chairman of the Gombe State Independent Electoral Commission (GOSIEC), Abdullahi Garba, announced the results on Saturday, describing the election as a significant milestone following the expansion of the state’s local government structure from 11 councils to 24 administrative councils.
Garba said the expansion became possible after Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya approved the creation of 13 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) to bring governance and development closer to the people.
He explained that the commission studied the experiences of states such as Lagos, where elections had already been conducted using LCDAs, before obtaining the necessary legal backing from the Gombe State House of Assembly.
According to him, the expansion increased the number of chairmanship positions from 11 to 24, while councillorship seats rose from 114 to 240.
Garba noted that although several political parties participated in the election, only a few fielded candidates across the newly created councils.
He said the APC contested in all 24 local government areas, while the African Action Congress (AAC) fielded candidates in three councils, the Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA) contested in six, the Youth Party (YP) participated in three, and both the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) and the National Rescue Movement (NRM) contested in three local governments each.
Announcing the final outcome, Garba declared the APC winner of all 24 chairmanship seats and all 240 councillor positions.
He commended political parties, election observers, civil society organisations, security agencies, and the media for their roles in ensuring a peaceful electoral process.
Garba also expressed appreciation to Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya for providing what he described as an enabling environment for the conduct of the elections and wished all participants a safe journey home.
(The Whistler)