Shehu Sani: Abuja Residents Uninterested in Voting

Former Kaduna Central senator and public commentator, Shehu Sani, says residents of Abuja appear largely apathetic about the ongoing electoral process.

Daily Trust had reported how the Saturday’s Area Council elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was marred by low voter turnout.

While touring some polling units, the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, lamented the low turnout.

At a polling unit in Karshi, the minister met a few electoral officials without any voter.

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Dr. Moses Paul, had earlier blamed the low turnout on the restriction of movement.

He said the turnout was far lower than expected and attributed it to what he described as confusion created by the restriction directive.

Commenting on the development in a post on his X handle on Saturday, Sani said many residents were only waiting for the movement restrictions to be lifted in order to resume their businesses.

“Abuja people seem not interested in voting; they are just waiting for the movement restrictions to be lifted so that they can go about their normal businesses.” he wrote.

Meanwhile, by-elections in Kano and Rivers States were also marked by low voter turnout.

In Rivers, although the election was largely peaceful, most polling units recorded very few voters.

Security operatives, including police and personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), were deployed to maintain order at the polling stations.

In Kano, low turnout characterized the Saturday’s bye-elections into two Kano State House of Assembly seats.

The elections, which are being conducted across 1,014 polling units in 24 registration areas, follow the deaths of Aminu Sa’ad Ungogo of Ungogo constituency and Sarki Aliyu of Kano Municipal constituency December 2025.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Kano State, Ambassador Abdu Zango, however, attributed the low voter turnout recorded during the Ungogo and Kano Municipal bye-elections to the timing of the polls and limited participation by political parties.

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