- Safiu Kehinde
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has made clarifications over the relocation of some voters from their original polling units to new polling units at the just concluded 2026 Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Council Election.
NPO Reported that the election was held on Saturday across the six Area Councils of the capital city.
While the conduct of the election was relatively peaceful, it was however dented with some challenges which include vote buying, delay in arrival of electoral materials at some polling units, voters’ apathy, as well as the alleged relocation of voters to new polling units without adequate prior notice.
Reacting to the challenges identified by election observers and some political parties, INEC admitted to delay in commencement of election in some polling units due to late arrival of its officials.
It however clarified the claims of the relocation of voters without adequate prior notice.
As against the claims, INEC explained that the relocation was done in a bid to avoid congestion of polling units due to the increased number of voters.
The commission also held that the affected voters were duly notified before the election day and also during the election day via text messages and email.
“Contrary to the claim in some quarters that some voters were migrated to another/ new polling units different from their original polling units, the Commission wishes to state categorically that voters were not migrated, what the Commission did was to create split polling units in large polling units with voters’ registration of over 1,250 voters to avoid congestion on election day.
“The split units are located some few meters away from the original polling units within the same premises.
“The public will recall that the Commission displayed the Register of Voters at designated centres/split polling units four days to the Area Council elections to enable voters confirm their details and polling unit locations.
“Text messages/emails were sent to the affected voters on Wednesday 18th, Thursday 19th, Friday 20th and Saturday 21st February 2026 indicating the actual locations of their split polling units, were intended solely as reminders to assist them in identifying their current polling units.” The statement read.
On the upload of election results on the IReV portal, INEC maintained that 93% of the election results were already uploaded on the portal as at 2pm on Sunday.
“The Commission also wishes to inform the public that as at 2:00pm on Sunday, 22nd February 2026, the upload of polling unit results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) Portal had reached 93%.
“Residents of the FCT and other interested members of the public can access results from the six Area Councils via the portal.”It said.
While appreciating the residents of the FCT for their peaceful conduct and cooperation throughout the electoral process, INEC held that there is significant improvement on voter apathy.
It noted a significant improvement compared to the previous election.
“In the 2022 Area Council election, a total of 148,685 voters were recorded, representing 9.4% of registered voters.
“In the current election, over 239,210 voters voted, representing approximately 15% of the 1,680,315 total registered voters in the FCT
“The Commission appreciates the electorate in the FCT for their cooperation and participation throughout the process.
“The participation recorded across the six Area Councils is indicative of citizens’ continued trust in building democracy and the electoral system.” The statement read.