INEC clears 1.68m voters for FCT area council poll

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has cleared a total of 1,680,315 registered voters to participate in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council election scheduled for February 21.

The commission also announced the publication and presentation of the revised register of voters for the poll.

Speaking in Abuja on Wednesday at a stakeholders’ meeting with political parties, Aminu Idris, the FCT Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), described the presentation of the register as a key constitutional requirement in INEC’s preparations for the election.

Read also: INEC commences strategic planning for 2027 polls, reaffirms commitment to public trust

Idris said the new figure represents an increase from the 1,570,307 registered voters recorded in 2023. He added that detailed statistics of the revised register were made available to all political parties at the meeting.

He recalled that INEC resumed the nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise on August 18 last year, beginning with online pre-registration before the commencement of physical registration nationwide on September 29, 2025.

According to him, the CVR exercise was suspended in the FCT on October 12, in compliance with Section 9(6) of the Electoral Act 2022, to allow the commission to revise the register of voters ahead of the area council elections.

The REC explained that the revision process, carried out pursuant to Section 10(6) of the Electoral Act, involved biometric de-duplication of the voters’ register, public display for claims and objections, as well as the compilation of a supplementary list arising from the exercise.

He noted that the revised register now supersedes all previous registers used for elections in the FCT.

“The total number of registered voters in the FCT increased from 1,570,307 recorded in 2023 to 1,680,315. The detailed statistics have been made available to political parties at the meeting,” Idris said.

He added that INEC had recorded significant progress in its preparations for the February election, which will fill 62 councillorship seats and six chairmanship positions across the territory.

According to him, activities already carried out by the commission include the monitoring of party primaries, publication of final lists of candidates, commencement of campaign monitoring, receipt of non-sensitive election materials, activation of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), voter education and sensitisation, stakeholder engagement, and collaboration with security agencies through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).

The REC urged political parties and candidates to sustain the prevailing peaceful atmosphere in the FCT and intensify voter mobilisation ahead of the polls.

He also disclosed that Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) for newly registered voters, as well as those who applied for transfer or updates during the CVR exercise, had been delivered to the FCT, adding that INEC would announce the date for the commencement of PVC collection in due course.

Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date