Over 1.5 million registered voters who have collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) will today elect six council chairmen and 62 councillors in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed receipt of all sensitive election materials for the FCT Area Council polls.
The commission said ballot papers, result sheets and Bimodal Voter Accreditation System machines have been received from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), under tight security, with all electoral stakeholders including party agents, civil society groups and journalists observing the handover.
Aminu Idris, FCT Resident Electoral Commissioner, assured stakeholders that the commission would uphold transparency and inclusiveness in the election, stressing that only registered voters with valid PVCs would be allowed to vote.
In a statement in Abuja, Mohammed Kudu Haruna, national commissioner and chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, disclosed that over 1.5 million registered voters have collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) ahead of the election.
Haruna disclosed that only 93,290 PVCs remain uncollected across the territory.
He commended residents for their participation in the Continuous Voter Registration and PVC distribution exercises.
Haruna said a council-by-council breakdown shows a strong turnout across the six area councils.
He said Abaji recorded 75,517 collected PVCs out of 79,471 registered voters (95.0%). Bwari recorded 276,360 out of 295,711 (93.5%), while Gwagwalada recorded 196,184 out of 208,057 (94.3%).
Kuje achieved 144,109 out of 148,286 registered voters (97.2%). Kwali recorded 99,774 out of 107,203 (93.1%), while Abuja Municipal Area Council led in total numbers with 795,081 collected out of 841,587 registered voters (94.5%).
Intrigues
BusinessDay reports that 17 political parties have fielded candidates for the election. The parties cleared for the polls include: Accord (A), Action Alliance (AA) African Action Congress (AAC), African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Democratic Party (ADP), All Progressives Congress (APC), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Action Peoples Party (APP), Boot Party (BP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), National Rescue Movement (NRM) Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Social Democratic Party (SDP), Young Progressives Party (YPP), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
However, the chairmanship candidate of the PDP for Abuja Municipal Area Council, Zadna Dantani, has withdrawn from the contest and endorsed Christopher Maikalangu, the candidate of the APC and incumbent chairman.
In a letter to INEC dated February 18, 2026, Dantani said his decision followed consultations with family and political associates, stressing that it was voluntary. He urged his supporters to vote for the APC candidate.
Dantani’s withdrawal came less than a day after PDP’s Bwari chairmanship candidate, Julius Adamu, also stepped down and backed the APC candidate, Joshua Ishaku.
The exits mark a significant boost to the APC chances ahead of today’s council elections, where voters across six area councils will elect chairmen and councillors under INEC’s supervision.
The FCT police command has already deployed personnel across the territory ahead of the elections, announcing a restriction of movement across the FCT from 6am to 6pm on election day with exemptions for essential service providers and election
The FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, had also announced “a work-free day on Friday,” and imposed a restriction of movement from 8pm on Friday until 6 pm on Saturday.
