By Omeiza Ajayi
ABUJA: The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC has announced February 21 next year for the conduct of area council elections in the Federal Capital Territory FCT, Abuja.
INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja at the first regular consultative meeting with political parties.
Yakubu said even as the commission prepares for the Anambra State Governorship election, she is always mindful of her responsibilities for other elections and electoral activities.
According to him, Section 28(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 requires the Commission to issue the notice for elections not later than 360 days before the date of the election.
“This applies to the General as well as off-cycle elections. As you are aware, the Commission is responsible for the Area Council election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the only part of the country where INEC conducts local government election.
“The last Area Council election in the FCT was held on 12 February 2022. By the effluxion of time, the tenure of the current Chairmen and Councillors ends next year. Consequently, the Commission has approved that the 2026 Area Council election in FCT will hold on Saturday 21st February 2026. Voting will take place in all the designated Polling Units across the 68 constituencies to elect the six Area Council Chairmen and 62 Councilors.
“In compliance with the mandatory legal requirements, the notice for the election will be published next month i.e. 26th February 2025. Party primaries will be held from 9th – 30th June 2025. The candidate nomination portal will open from 9.00am on 21st July 2025 to 6.00pm on 11th August 2025. The final list of candidates will be published on 22nd September 2025. Campaign in public by political parties will commence on 24th September 2025 and end at midnight of Thursday 19th February 2026”, he said.
Yakubu added that the detailed Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election as well as the list of constituencies and type of elections in the FCT will be uploaded to INEC’s website.
On the Anambra Governorship Election, Yakubu reminded leaders of political parties that primaries for the nomination of candidates for begin in the next two months, from 20th March to 10th April 2025.
“You may similarly recall that at our last regular meeting, we agreed that you will forward your schedule of activities for the election to the Commission to enable us work together and plan better for the deployment of personnel and resources for the monitoring of your party primaries and campaign activities in order to avoid the last minute rush with the attendant inability to meet deadlines and unnecessarily dissipate our energy and lean resources. So far, only a few parties are in compliance. I urge those that have not done so to submit the details by the end of this week”, he counselled.
The INEC boss explained that over the last one and a half years since the inauguration of the current National and State Assemblies in June 2023, vacancies have occurred in 23 constituencies as a result of death of serving members or their voluntary resignation for executive positions at Federal, State and even Local Government levels.
He said while the Commission had conducted nine bye-elections early last year, 14 more vacancies have occurred since then.
“They are unpredictable, unbudgeted and difficult to plan in advance. Worse, some bye-elections lead to more bye-elections. There were situations where a bye-election in one Senatorial District was won by a serving member of the House of Representatives from the same District thereby creating another vacancy. In turn, a member of the State Assembly won the bye-election to the House of Representatives thereby creating a vacancy in the State Assembly. Consequently, one bye-election led to three bye-elections. Not only are these bye-elections costly, they also divert the Commission’s attention from its other extensive electoral responsibilities.
“Over the last nine years since 2016, the present Commission has been advocating for a more cost-effective alternative means of filling vacancies as is the case in many jurisdictions around the world. We have similarly been appealing to stakeholders, including political parties, to join the advocacy and for the National Assembly to amend the law accordingly. Just three weeks ago, we canvassed this position once again during the defence of our 2025 budget before the joint committee of the Senate and House of Representatives at the National Assembly. We are glad that more Nigerians are now joining the advocacy. We hope that working together, we will continue to reform and improve on our electoral process”, he added.
