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 with the Constitution and the Electoral Act, 2022, while urging the National Assembly to expedite amendments to the electoral legal framework to ensure stability ahead of the polls.
On voter participation, the INEC Chairman raised concerns over declining voter turnout, which fell from 53.7% in 2011 to 26.7% in 2023.
He announced plans for a nationwide voter revalidation exercise to clean up the register ahead of 2027, alongside the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), which has already added over 2.7 million new voters.
In a significant development, INEC announced the registration of two new political parties.
The Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA) was approved after meeting all constitutional and legal requirements, while the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) was registered in compliance with a Federal High Court order.
Professor Amupitan also cautioned political parties against internal leadership crises and excessive litigation, warning that such disputes undermine public trust and distract from democratic consolidation.
Speaking on behalf of political parties, National Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Dr. Yusuf Mamman Dantalle, charged INEC to remain independent, firm, and fair, while urging parties to strengthen internal democracy and make use of IPAC’s dispute resolution mechanisms instead of rushing to court.
IPAC further called for reforms including mandatory real-time transmission of results, harmonisation of the electoral legal framework, and even the scrapping of State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) in favour of INEC conducting all elections nationwide
