INEC to conduct FCT council polls Feb 21

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council elections will hold on Saturday, February 21, 2026.

This is as the commission announced the registration of two new political parties ahead of the 2027 General Election.

The INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja during the commission’s first regular consultative meeting with political parties since he assumed office.

Amupitan said the FCT election would involve 1,680,315 registered voters across 2,822 polling units in the six area councils of Abaji, AMAC, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje and Kwali.

“The exercise will be contested by 570 candidates in 68 constituencies for chairmanship, vice-chairmanship and councillorship positions,” he said.

He noted that the Commission had completed most preparatory activities, including the delivery of non-sensitive materials, training of electoral officers, recruitment of ad hoc staff and configuration of BVAS devices for accreditation and upload of results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.

“To further guarantee the functionality of our systems, the Commission will conduct a mock accreditation exercise on Saturday, 7th February 2026, in 289 designated polling units across the six area councils,” Amupitan said.

The INEC chairman warned political parties against vote-buying, describing it as “a subversion of the democratic will and a violation of the law”, adding that offenders would face sanctions.

On party registration, Amupitan announced that the Commission has registered the Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA) as a political party after it met all constitutional and legal requirements.

“Accordingly, the Commission has decided to register the Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA) as a political party, effective today,” he said.

He also disclosed that INEC had complied with a Federal High Court order directing it to register the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), bringing the total number of registered parties to 20.

Amupitan further revealed that INEC would soon embark on a nationwide voter revalidation exercise ahead of the 2027 general elections to address issues of multiple registrations, non-citizenship and deceased voters.

“A credible register of voters remains the bedrock of free, fair and transparent elections,” he said.

Earlier, the National Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Dr Yusuf Mamman Dantalle, urged INEC to remain neutral and strictly guided by party constitutions in resolving internal party disputes.

“The Commission must remain independent, neutral, fair, firm and decisive in conducting elections that are free, fair, credible, transparent and inclusive,” Dantalle said.

He also called on the National Assembly to expedite amendments to the Electoral Act and advocated the conduct of all elections on the same day to reduce cost and voter fatigue.

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