The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that elections into the six Area Councils of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) will be held on Saturday, February 21, 2026.
The Commission also confirmed the registration of two additional political parties ahead of the 2027 general elections.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, made the disclosures on Thursday in Abuja during the Commission’s first regular consultative meeting with political parties since assuming office.
According to Amupitan, the FCT Area Council elections will involve 1,680,315 registered voters across 2,822 polling units in the councils of Abaji, Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje and Kwali.
He said a total of 570 candidates will contest elections in 68 constituencies for chairmanship, vice-chairmanship and councillorship positions.
The INEC chairman noted that the Commission has concluded most of the preparatory activities for the elections, including the distribution of non-sensitive materials, training of electoral officials, recruitment of ad hoc staff, and the configuration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for voter accreditation and result transmission to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.
To further test the functionality of its systems, Amupitan said INEC would conduct a mock accreditation exercise on Saturday, February 7, 2026, in 289 selected polling units across the six area councils.
He cautioned political parties against vote-buying, describing the practice as a distortion of the democratic process and a violation of the law, warning that offenders would be sanctioned.
On party registration, Amupitan announced that INEC has approved the registration of the Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA) after it fulfilled all constitutional and legal requirements. He also disclosed that the Commission complied with a Federal High Court order directing it to register the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), bringing the total number of registered political parties in the country to 20.
The INEC chairman further revealed that the Commission would soon commence a nationwide voter revalidation exercise ahead of the 2027 general elections to address issues such as multiple registrations, non-citizenship and the inclusion of deceased persons in the voter register.
“A credible voters’ register remains the foundation 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 maintain neutrality and adhere strictly to party constitutions in resolving internal party disputes.
He also called on the National Assembly to fast-track amendments to the Electoral Act and advocated the conduct of all elections on the same day to reduce costs and voter fatigue.
