APC sweeps Gombe LG polls, wins all chairmanship, councillorship seats

The All Progressives Congress, APC, has secured a clean sweep in the Gombe State local government elections, winning all 24 chairmanship positions and the 240 councillorship seats contested across the state.

Chairman of the Gombe State Independent Electoral Commission, GOSIEC, Abdullahi Garba, announced the outcome after the collation of results, declaring the APC victorious in every local government area and ward.

“From the results received across the state, the APC emerged victorious in all the 24 local government chairmanship elections and won all 240 councillorship seats,” Garba said.

He described the exercise as a landmark election, noting that it was the first to be conducted following the expansion of the state’s local government structure from 11 councils to 24 administrative councils.

Garba explained that the increase became possible after Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya approved the establishment of 13 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) to enhance grassroots governance and accelerate development.

According to him, the commission studied similar electoral models adopted in other states, including Lagos, before proposing the expansion, which was subsequently backed by the Gombe State House of Assembly through the necessary legislation.

“The previous election in 2023 was conducted in 11 local government areas. Today, we have 24 administrative councils, while the number of councillorship seats has increased from 114 to 240. This represents a significant milestone in the state’s democratic development,” he said.

Garba disclosed that although several political parties participated in the elections, only a handful presented candidates across the newly created councils.

He said the APC fielded candidates in all 24 local government areas, while the African Action Congress (AAC) contested in three councils. The Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA) participated in six councils, while the Youth Party (YP), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), and National Rescue Movement (NRM) each contested in three local government areas.

The GOSIEC chairman commended political parties, election observers, civil society organisations, security agencies, the media and other stakeholders for their roles in ensuring the peaceful conduct of the elections across the state.