ACCREDITATION and voting are underway in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) as officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conduct the 2026 FCT Area Council elections.

Voting commenced in AMAC, Ward City Centre, on Saturday morning as residents turned out to elect new council leaders.

The ICIR reporter on the field reports that accreditation and voting began at Polling Unit 001, Area 2, Section 2, Amusement Park, where 863 voters are registered as of 9:30 a.m.

At Polling Unit 005, Area 2, Section 2, Park and Garden, which has 920 registered voters, only a handful of voters were present.

Similarly, at polling unit 066, City Centre, some electorates have been accredited and cleared to cast their respective vote.

The ICIR reported that INEC fixed February 21, 2026, for the polls, with over 600 candidates contesting chairmanship, vice chairmanship and councillorship positions.

The election involves 1,680,315 registered voters across 2,822 polling units. To facilitate the process, INEC deployed 3,345 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices.

The exercise is taking place across the FCT’s six area councils and 62 political wards, with 68 elective positions up for grabs.

This organisation reports that the exercise, where the All Progressives Congress (APC), African Democratic Congress (ADC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other political parties are battling to win seats, has also been going on smoothly in Kuje, Gwagwalada and other area councils in the nation’s capital.

Mustapha USMAN

Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M