Before the creation of Federal Capital Territory, Gwagwalada was under the Kwali District of the former Abuja emirate now Suleja emirate. Gwagwalada Area Council was created on 15 October 1984. Its official population figure of 158,618 people at the 2006 census. The relocation of the seat of government from Lagos to Abuja in 1992 and the recent demolition of illegal structures within the Federal City Center brought a massive influx of people into the Area Council being one of the fastest growing urban centers in the FCT.