In the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council elections on February 21, 2026, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has denied allegations that voters were moved to different polling places. However, the FCT has expressed concern over voter disinterest despite an increase in turnout.
No voter was moved from their original voting place, the commission explained in a press release signed by Wilfred Ifogah, Acting Director of Voter Education and Publicity. In order to alleviate traffic, INEC only established split polling stations in densely populated areas with over 1,250 registered voters. The extra voting stations were situated within the same building, barely a few meters from the original locations.
The commission emphasized that the voter registration had been posted at specified polling places four days prior to the election to allow for verification, even though it conceded that some voters had trouble finding their assigned voting places. It further stated that between February 18 and 21, impacted voters received emails and texts reminding them of the locations of their split polling units.
Although INEC acknowledged a notable improvement over the 2022 Area Council elections, it stated that voter apathy was still a concern. Over 239,210 people, or roughly 15% of the 1,680,315 registered voters in the FCT, cast ballots in the 2026 elections, up from 148,685 voters (9.4%) in 2022, according to the commission.
The electoral body attested to the successful completion of elections for 62 councillor seats and chairmanships in the six Area Councils. All results were released late Saturday, with the exception of Kuje Area Council, which was declared at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Sunday because of delays in collation.
On election day, all polling places were completely functioning by 10:00 a.m., but only roughly 45% of them were opened by 8:30 a.m., according to INEC’s Election Operations Dashboard.
The commission also revealed that, as of Sunday at 2:00 p.m., 93% of polling unit results had been posted for public viewing on the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.
The challenging terrain in Kabi Ward caused the final collation process to be delayed, which is why INEC took the time to announce the Kuje Area Council result. The organization also praised the FCT inhabitants for their composure during the exercise.
