By HAMZA SULEIMAN

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has emerged the winner of the Chairmanship seats and Councillorship positions in all 27 Local Government Areas during the Dec. 13 council elections in Borno.

The list of the Chairmen-elect, who had been declared winners by the returning officers earlier, was officially announced by Alhaji Tahiru Shettima, the Chairman of the Borno State Independent Electoral Commission (BOSIEC), at a news conference on Monday in Maiduguri.

Shettima said BOSIEC did not create any “roadblock” for any political party that was interested in contesting the elections.

He said that despite having a number of meetings with the stakeholders, only six political parties participated in the elections.

"I think the commission has done its best and the election was free, fair, inclusive and transparent,” the BOSIEC’s chairman said.

Shettima insisted that all the BOSIEC’s returning officers were constituted people of high integrity and high intellectual capacity from academia and the technocrats.

“So, BOSIEC’s Headquarters collected these results as submitted to us by the Returning Officers and our Electoral Officers.

“So. we have aggregated everything for the 27 local government areas, so our task this evening is to announce the list of chairmen elects,” he explained.

The BOSIEC’s chairman also declared that the election was successfully completed, saying that, based on the election results, it was clear that the election was keenly contested by different individuals.

He, however, urged the elected chairmen to be focused and to show determination to provide social amenities to the people at the grassroots level.

Shettima said that the chairmen-elect should also look at the voter turnout, which had clearly shown that the local government was closer to the people, adding that the people at the grassroots level are interested in political participation at the local government level.

The BOSIEC’s chairman further expressed appreciation to the Armed Forces, police and other security agencies for their support and ensuring the smooth conduct of the elections.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the election was contested by six political parties, including the All Progressives Congress (APC), the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the Labour Party (LP), and the People’s Redemption Party (PRP). (NAN)