Political tides shifted in the Abuja Municipal Area Council on Monday as Speaker Matthew Yare was dramatically removed from office. His ouster, carried out in the early hours, paved the way for Ibrahim Jankaro to be sworn in as the new Speaker.
The change of leadership followed a decisive move by eight councillors of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who joined forces to impeach Yare. With numbers firmly on their side, the APC bloc left little room for resistance from the dwindling ranks of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The balance of power in the council had tilted sharply in favour of the APC in recent weeks after the executive chairman of the council, Christopher Maikalangu, defected from the PDP to the ruling party. His defection effectively handed the APC control of eight out of the council’s twelve wards, cementing its dominance at the grassroots.
For Yare, the loss of the speakership underscores how quickly political fortunes can change in Nigeria’s volatile local councils. For the APC, it marks not just a victory in numbers but a tightening grip on the capital’s municipal politics, leaving the PDP scrambling to regroup.
