There was a tense tension at a ward collation centre in Garki, Abuja, following a dispute between party agents and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission over the handling of councillorship election results. The disagreement started during the collation of votes for the councillorship contest. Party agents accused electoral officials of blocking access to the result sheets before announcing the final figures.

Witnesses at the centre said party representatives were earlier allowed to cross-check figures for the chairmanship election. This process was reportedly carried out calmly and in line with procedure. However, the atmosphere changed when officials moved to declare councillorship results without permitting agents to verify the numbers with their own records.

The move triggered loud protests and heated exchanges inside the collation hall. Several agents insisted that the same level of transparency given during the chairmanship collation should apply to the councillorship exercise. One aggrieved party agent openly challenged the officials and demanded that the figures be reviewed before any declaration was made.

“Sir, we disagree with this final figures. Let’s confirm them with our record. You were there when during the chairmanship, they brought the figures, we checked, so can’t they allow us to do the same for councillorship? They just declare it like that without us checking the figures?” the agent said.

He added, “We disagree with these figures, let’s check them. Who does that? Let’s see it.”

The confrontation briefly disrupted the collation process and caused confusion among voters and party supporters present at the centre. The incident is one of several disputes recorded during the Federal Capital Territory Area Council elections, which have been marked by complaints of procedural lapses, delays and low voter turnout in some wards.

Meanwhile, early results released from the chairmanship elections show that the All Progressives Congress has taken the lead in key councils. The party has so far secured victories in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Bwari Area Council and Kwali Area Council. Two other chairmanship results are still being awaited.

The Peoples Democratic Party won the Gwagwalada Area Council seat.

In AMAC, APC candidate Christopher Maikalangu polled 40,295 votes to defeat his closest challenger from the African Democratic Congress, who scored 12,109 votes. The PDP candidate recorded 3,398 votes. Maikalangu is the incumbent chairman.

In Bwari Area Council, APC’s Joshua Ishaku emerged winner with 18,466 votes. The ADC candidate came second with 4,254 votes, while the Zenith Labour Party candidate secured 3,515 votes.

The Nigerian Army on Thursday said it has arrested Alhaji Tijjani Abdul Rauf, a man posing as a military general, misleading the public and abusing the prestige of the military institution.

In a statement issued by Appolonia Anene, the Army said it uncovered and arrested Rauf who parades himself as a retired Major General after he consistently exploited false credentials to intimidate unsuspecting civilians,

Anene said investigations showed that contrary to his claims, the imposter was never commissioned into the Nigerian Army, nor did he attain the rank of a general from the service.

She stated that further investigations revealed that Tijjani also fraudulently claimed attendance at the prestigious National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, while asserting that he was a recipient of the national honour, Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR).

“The impostor was found to have consistently exploited these false credentials to intimidate unsuspecting civilians, including during court proceedings where he presented himself as a retired senior military officer to command undue respect, sympathy and influence.

“During interrogation, media reports published in two nationally recognised newspapers were recovered, in which the impostor was repeatedly referred to as a “retired Major General.” These misrepresentations, now established to be false, further demonstrate the extent to which the individual sustained his deception within the public space,” Anene said.

Continuing, she highlighted that one such claim, published by an online newspaper, was the identification of Tijjani as “Major General AbdulRauf Tijjani (rtd)” in a suit instituted against the Lagos State Government and other respondents, in which he sought ₦8 billion in damages.

In another report, the imposter was also referred to as a Major General while detailing his appeal against the dismissal of the same suit, which the court had earlier described as a gross abuse of court process and incompetent in law.

“The Nigerian Army wishes to categorically state that no retired officer of the Nigerian Army bears the name Alhaji Tijjani Abdul Rauf, nor has any officer with such identity ever held the rank of Major General or above within the Service. We strongly condemn this act of impersonation, which constitutes a grave offence, undermines public trust and tarnishes the honour and integrity of officers who have genuinely served the nation with distinction.