…deploys 1,132 vehicles to ensure early arrival of electoral materials
By Ezekiel Marshal
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, SAN, has issued a stern warning to political actors and voters ahead of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council elections.
Speaking at a stakeholders’ forum in Abuja on Wednesday, the Chairman declared that “vote buying undermines democracy and will not be tolerated,” revealing that undercover operatives from the EFCC and ICPC will be deployed to polling units to arrest and prosecute offenders.
The elections, scheduled for Saturday, February 21, 2026, involve 1,680,315 registered voters across 2,822 polling units.
Professor Amupitan emphasized that the FCT poll remains the only local government election in Nigeria conducted by INEC, making its integrity a benchmark for the nation.
With 11 out of 13 preparatory milestones already achieved including the conclusion of PVC distribution, the commission is now in the final countdown to Election Day.
A central pillar of the commission’s strategy to prevent electoral fraud is the deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
The system has been upgraded to ensure seamless accreditation and the immediate upload of results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
Professor Amupitan confirmed that a successful mock accreditation exercise in 289 polling units has validated the system’s reliability for the Saturday poll.
To ensure that 8:30 a.m. opening times are strictly met across all six Area Councils—Abaji, AMAC, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje, and Kwali INEC has secured a massive logistics fleet of 1,132 Vehicles for the transportation of sensitive and non-sensitive materials, 620 Motorcycles to navigate difficult-to-reach rural terrain and 14 Boats for riverine communities within the territory.
The FCT Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mallam Aminu Kasimu Idris, noted that the commission is currently re-displaying the voter register at polling units to prevent the confusion observed in previous cycles due to voter migration.
This transparency initiative is supported by the FCT Police Command, which has announced a comprehensive security surge across all identified flashpoints and collation centers.
The Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) have both reaffirmed their commitment to a peaceful process.
With 89 domestic and foreign observer groups and 700 accredited journalists monitoring the exercise, the commission is under intense scrutiny to deliver a clean election.
Following the stakeholders’ meeting, Professor Amupitan led an Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) session to finalize the rules of engagement for security personnel, ensuring that voter safety remains the highest priority.