Several residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were seen moving about freely on Saturday despite a restriction on human and vehicular movement imposed ahead of the area council elections.
The FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, had earlier announced a movement ban from 8:00 p.m. Friday to 6:00 p.m. Saturday to maintain security during the polls.
However, reports by the News Agency of Nigeria indicate that commercial buses, tricycles, and motorcycles operated across several districts without significant obstruction. Areas including Airport Road, Jikwoyi, Nyanya, Kuje, Gwagwalada, and parts of the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) recorded steady vehicular activity, with few visible barricades.
On the Kubwa–Nyanya expressway, security operatives mounted roadblocks, prompting some motorists to divert or attempt to bypass checkpoints.
Despite the movement observed in parts of the city, many businesses remained closed. Only a handful of point-of-sale operators, laundry services, and small traders opened along Airport Road.
As of 8:10 a.m., election materials were being distributed from the Kuje central centre at Science Primary School to polling units. In Aleyita, polling units at LEA Primary School were largely empty in the early hours, with security personnel present but officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission yet to arrive.
By 8:26 a.m., only five voters — including two party agents — were at the centre. One voter, Andrew James, said he arrived around 7:00 a.m. but met no INEC officials on the ground. The six polling units serving the community had been merged into a single centre at the school.
Voting had also not begun at Pilot Science Primary School in Kwali as of 8:33 a.m., though INEC officials were briefing party agents on procedures.
Elections are ongoing across the FCT’s six area councils, with security agencies deployed to maintain order amid the movement restriction directive.
