The Independent National Electoral Commission has assured residents of the Federal Capital Territory of a peaceful and credible Area Council election scheduled for Saturday, February 21, 2026.
INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, spoke at a stakeholders’ forum in Abuja, where he disclosed that more than 1.6 million registered voters are expected to participate in the exercise across 2,822 polling units.
A total of 570 candidates will be contesting 68 seats in the election.
Amupitan stressed that the Commission has no preferred candidate and described elections as a shared responsibility between the electoral body, political actors, security agencies, and voters.
He warned that vote buying and other electoral offences will not be tolerated, noting that security agencies, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, will be deployed to monitor the process.
The INEC Chairman confirmed that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System will be used in all polling units, while results will be uploaded to the INEC Result Viewing portal.
He added that 89 observer groups and about 700 journalists have been accredited to monitor the election.