FCT Area Council election witness poor voter turnout

Residents dey await results after voting end for di Federal Capital Territory area council elections wey hapun on Saturday for Abuja, Nigeria capital city.

Sorting and counting of votes don also end for di polling unit level and staff of di Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) don park dia materials comot from di various polling units wey our tori pipo bin monitor.

Di election witness very low turnout of voters for di several polling unit especially for many parts of Abuja city.

Our tori pipo bin monitor di election for places like di Tudun Wada Primary and Secondary School for Wuse Zone 4, Government Secondary School for Wuse Zone 3, Junior Secondary School for Mabushi Abuja, Kuchingoro Primary School for di outskirt of Abuja city centre, and oda polling units for Gwarimpa and Garki areas.

Na only for di Kuchigoro primary school wey get about six polling units our tori pipo see good number of pipo wey come out to vote; for di oda venues, voters just dey drop in one by one, and Inec workers dey for shades dey gist.

Voting bin no start excatly by 8.30 am according to di Independent National Electoral commission, Inec guidelines for di election, but dat na sake of low voter turnout, no be say Inec ad-hoc staff no come on time.

However, voting close for almost all di polling units by 2.30 pm wey be di official closing time. By 3.30 pm, many of di inec workers don dey pack dia materials to go to dia respective collation centres.

For di areas wey we monitor, di election bin go smoothly witout any security wahala, and di Inec Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (Bvas) bin dey work well.

As e be now, collation of final election results dey go on for di various area councils.

Key tins to know about FCT Area Council election 2026

Elections hapun across di six area councils wey make up Nigeria Federal Capital Territory on Saturday, 21 February, 2026.

Residents for di six area councils - Abaji, Abuja Municipal, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje, and Kwali - bin vote to elect di six chairmen and 62 councillors across 68 constituencies of di FCT.

So why dis election dey important?

First election after Tinubu sign New Electoral Act

Dis na di first election wey di Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) go conduct using di new but controversial Electoral Amendment Act wey President Bola Tinubu bin sign into law dis week.

Di new act make provision for electronic transmission of votes from polling unit to di Inec result-viewing portal (Irev) wia pipo go fit see dem for real time, but critics no happy wit di clause wey di lawmakers bin add dia say electoral officers fit use manual collation of result wia e no dey possible to use electronic transmission maybe sake of network failure.

Dem tok say politicians go take advantage of dat provision to manipulate election results to dia gain.

Meanwhile, Inec tok say more dan 1.5 million voters don already collect dia permanent voter cards (PVC) out of di over1.68 million registered voters for di FCT.

"Only duly registered voters wey get dia valid PVCs go dey allowed to vote on Election Day," Mohammed Haruna, di tok-tok pesin for Inec tok for inside one statement on Friday.

Dis na also di second election wey di new Inec chairman, Joash Amupitan go conduct afta e enta office for 23 October, 2025. Di first one na di Anambra State govnorship election wey bin hapun for November.

Election go test popularity of Peter Obi ADC

Sabi pipo tok say dis election go be test of popularity for di ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Tinubu ahead of di 2027 presidential election, afta e bin famoulsy lose here for 2023.

By contrast, di Labour Party wey dia presidential candidate – Peter Obi – bin win di FCT for 2023, no dey take part for dis council elections as internal crisis bin scatter di party leadership into two, and bicos of dat, dem bin no fit conduct valid primaries in accordance wit di law.

Howeva, many candidates wey dey run for positions on top di platform of di African Democratic Congress (ADC) dey believed to be former LP members who bin follow Obi to join di new opposition coalition party.

Why Inec dey oversee FCT Council election

Di FCT area council elections na di only local council elections wey Inec dey oversee. Dis na bicos di FCT no dey recognised as a state on dia own like di oda 36 states for Nigeria.

Oda states get dia State Electoral Commissions wey dey handle local govment elections, but for di FCT, na Inec be di body in charge of elections.

Also, dis election go give residents of di FCT di opportunity to chose dia leaders for di grassroot level, especially as dem no get di power to elect who dey in charge of di capital city sake of say na di president dey appoint who e like.

FCT Area Council Election in numbers

Polls dey expected to open by 8:00am wit election officers arriving for dia polling units and setting up dia materials. Voting go start by 8.30 am and stop by 2.30pm. Pipo wey don stand for line bifor di closing time go dey allowed to vote but nobody go dey allowed to enta di line once poll closing time don reach.

Also, di FCT Minister Nyesom Wike don impose movement restrictions from 6:ooam to 6:00pm on election day to make sure say di election dey peaceful and thugs no go fit waka freely to cause trouble.