The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday reaffirmed its commitment to credible, transparent, and inclusive elections as it engaged leaders of political parties on Day Two of its first-quarter 2026 stakeholders’ consultations in Abuja.
Chairman of INEC, Professor Joash O. Amupitan, SAN, described the meeting as a critical milestone, marking his first formal consultative engagement with political parties since assuming office. He said the dialogue followed earlier meetings with civil society organisations and the media and was aimed at strengthening collaboration ahead of a packed electoral calendar.
A major focus of the engagement was the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council elections scheduled for Saturday, 21 February 2026. According to INEC, no fewer than 1,680,315 registered voters are expected to cast their ballots across 2,822 polling units in the six Area Councils—Abaji, AMAC, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje and Kwali. The elections will feature 570 candidates contesting chairmanship, vice-chairmanship and councillorship positions across 68 constituencies.
Professor Amupitan disclosed that 10 out of the 13 activities in the election timetable have already been completed, adding that campaigns will officially end on Thursday, 19 February 2026. He assured political parties of INEC’s preparedness, noting that non-sensitive materials have been deployed, electoral officers trained, and BVAS devices configured for accreditation and real-time upload of results to the IReV portal. A mock accreditation exercise is slated for Saturday, 7 February 2026, in 289 selected polling units across the FCT.
INEC also confirmed the accreditation of 83 domestic and five foreign observer groups, alongside multiple media organisations, to monitor the polls.
Beyond the FCT elections, the Commission announced simultaneous bye-elections in Rivers State (Ahoada East II and Khana II constituencies) and Kano State (Kano Municipal and Ungogo constituencies) on the same date, 21 February 2026. Attention is also turning to the Ekiti State governorship election scheduled for 20 June 2026 and the Osun State governorship poll fixed for 8 August 2026.
Looking ahead to the 2027 General Election, INEC revealed that it has finalised the timetable and schedule of activities in line
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