The Adamawa State government on Monday, swore in 21 newly elected local government chairmen.

The Chairmen emerged after a council election conducted on Saturday, July 13, across the 21 local government areas of the state.

Notably, the 21 Chairmen, all of them male, were elected alongside 21 women as running mates and now as vice chairpersons; achieving a gender balancing hitherto unknown in the state.

Governor Ahmadu Fintiri who leads the state with a female Deputy Governor, Professor Kaletapwa Farauta, had earlier asked his Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to make chairmanship candidates choose people of opposite sex for the council poll.

The party had gone ahead to present a mix of candidates for the election, which produced all-PDP winners after the main opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, refused to present candidates.

The newly elected council bosses were sworn in at the Mahmud Ribadu Square in Yola by the state chief judge, Hapsat Abdulrahman.

Making a thanksgiving speech on behalf of all the Chairmen, Suleiman Gankuma, the Chairman of Toungo Council Area, said they would not disappoint the party on which ticket they were elected.

Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, commending the winners, said the victory of the chairmen at the poll is a victory for democracy at the grassroots.

“You must continue to win by discharging your duties responsibly. You must be at your duty post whenever your people desire you. This isn’t a part-time job. Your people must have access to you as much as possible at all times,” Fintiri told them.