INEC Announces FCT Council Elections Set for February 21

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has officially announced that the elections for the Area Councils in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) will take place on Saturday, February 21, 2026.

In addition to this announcement, the commission revealed the registration of two new political parties in preparation for the 2027 General Election.

Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, the INEC Chairman, made this declaration on Thursday in Abuja during the commission's initial regular consultative meeting with political parties since he took office.

He stated that the upcoming election would include 1,680,315 registered voters across 2,822 polling units located within six area councils: Abaji, AMAC, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje, and Kwali.

"The election will feature 570 candidates vying for chairmanship, vice- chairmanship, and councillorship roles across 68 constituencies," he explained.

Amupitan emphasized that INEC has completed several preparatory tasks, such as distributing non-sensitive materials, training electoral officials, hiring ad hoc personnel, and configuring the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for voter accreditation and result uploads to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.

To ensure the systems' effectiveness, the commission plans to conduct a mock accreditation exercise on Saturday, February 7, 2026, at 289 designated polling units throughout the six area councils.

The chairman cautioned political parties against engaging in vote-buying, labeling it a “subversion of democratic will and a breach of the law,” with offenders facing strict penalties.

In terms of party registration, Amupitan announced that the Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA) has now been registered as a legitimate political party, fulfilling all legal requirements.

He mentioned that INEC is also complying with a Federal High Court order requiring it to register the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), increasing the total number of registered parties to 20.

Furthermore, Amupitan indicated that INEC will soon initiate a national voter revalidation exercise in advance of the 2027 general elections to rectify issues related to duplicate registrations, non-citizens, and deceased voters.

"A trustworthy voter register is critical for conducting free, fair, and transparent elections," he asserted.

During the same meeting, Dr. Yusuf Mamman Dantalle, the National Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), urged INEC to maintain neutrality and adhere to party constitutions when addressing internal disputes among parties.

Dantalle emphasized that the commission needs to maintain independence, fairness, and decisiveness to organize elections that are free, fair, credible, transparent, and inclusive.

He also appealed to the National Assembly to expedite amendments to the Electoral Act and suggested that all elections be held on a single day to minimize costs and reduce voter fatigue.