BY DAVID ADUGE-ANI

The chairman-elect for Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Hon. Christopher Zakka Maikalangu, has received his Certificate of Return, from the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), with a promise to focus more on the development of rural communities in the area council.

Maikalangu, who made the pledge shortly after receiving the certificate on Wednesday, described the ceremony as the “final bus stop” of the electoral process, just as he expressed gratitude to residents for renewing his mandate.

“I feel better, I feel good. Just the way everyone sitting here is happy. Today is the final day. We have gotten our Certificates of Return, and we give God the glory because this is the last bus stop,” he said.

“We went out, we campaigned, we solicited votes from the people, and they gave us their mandate. Here we are today with our Certificates of Return, so we give God the glory.”

The AMAC chairman said grassroots development would remain central to his administration.

“Anytime you talk about local government, you are talking about local people. I am going to give the rural areas 80 per cent because most of my activities dwell in the rural areas,” he stated.

Speaking with newsmen, Maikalangu promised to expand infrastructure, education, and other social amenities across communities, noting that development would be spread across the 12 wards of AMAC, based on their peculiar needs.

“Some areas need more infrastructure. If you talk about Kabusa Ward, for example, it is one of the largest wards with many rural communities that need government attention. You have to spread resources to schools here, infrastructure there, so that everybody feels the impact,” he explained.

The AMAC Vice chairman-elect, Yusuf Nadabo, who also spoke to newsmen, described the day as joyous and assured residents of continuity in governance.

“This is a continued government. I am coming to join my principal on a motion already, so we will build on that,” he said.

He stated that the administration would focus on people-oriented projects tailored to the specific needs of each ward.

“In some wards, it is water; in others, it is education or infrastructure. Because it is local, it will be people-oriented.

“We will operate an open-door policy so citizens can see what we are doing and what resources are available,” Nadabo added.

Earlier, while presenting Certificates of Returns to the the newly elected chairmen and councillors of the six area councils of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), at the commission’s office in Abuja, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for the FCT, Aminu Idris, described the exercise as the formal conclusion of a successful and transparent electoral process.

Idris noted that the presentation covered the six Area Councils chairpersons and their deputies, as well as the 62 councillors in the FCT.

“I wish, on behalf of the Commission, to congratulate all of you for your success at the polls. I urge you to see your mandates as a call to duty to the people,” he said.