Results of last Thursday’s local government elections gave the ruling Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) yet another landslide victory, but it lost its mayoral seat in Banjul.
The election, which was boycotted by the opposition for what it said was the ‘lack of a level playing field’, saw the APRC win in 35 of the 45 contested wards across the country, according to results announced by the Independent Electoral Commission, IEC.
The APRC also retained its mayoral seat in the Kanifing Municipality, with its candidate Yankuba Colley registering 25,773 votes against Sheikh Omar Saho’s 10,982 votes.
10 seats went to independent candidates, while the National Reconciliation Party (NRP), the only opposition party that contested the elections, failed to secure a seat.
However, in Banjul, where all eyes were focused, independent candidate Abdoulie Bah defeated APRC’s Samba Faal after polling 4980 votes against Faal’s 3811.
Two other independent candidates Basirou Ndow and Alagie Jah also contested for the capital city’s top job. Ndow polled 552 votes, and Jah managed to secure only 390 votes.
Samba Faal, who said he accepted defeat, told The Point in a telephone interview: ‘This is the verdict of the people, and we have to accept it in good faith.’
Out of a total of 114 wards across the country, elections were only held in 45 wards, with the rest going unopposed to the APRC.
Though official figures are yet to be released by the IEC, voter turnout was reported to be generally low.
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