Ahead of the election on February 21, to usher in new leadership in the six Area Councils of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has scheduled mock accreditation for February 7.
This was announced today, February 5, by the chairman of the Commission, Professor Joash Amupitan at a meeting with representatives of various political parties in Abuja.
He said that mock accreditation will take place in 289 designated Polling Units, across the six Area Councils.
According to him, a comprehensive list of the selected PUs will be published on the Commission’s website for public information.
Professor Joash said that the Commission has accredited 83 domestic and five foreign observer groups to monitor the polls, adding that various media organizations are being accredited to ensure comprehensive and objective coverage of the entire electoral process.
INEC boss hinted that 1,680,315 registered voters will cast their ballots across 2,822 polling units (PUs) in the six Area Councils of the FCT. The Area Councils are Abaji, Abuja Municipal Area Council, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje and Kwali.
“It will be contested by 570 candidates in 68 (sixty-eight) constituencies for the positions of Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen and 62 (sixty-two) Councilors made up of 10 (ten) wards each for five Area Councils and 12 (twelve) wards for the Abuja Municipal Area Council.”
He said that the timetable and schedule of activities for the election was released on 23rd January 2025, and that it consists of 13 key activities, 10 of which have already been successfully completed.
“The remaining activities relate to the publication of the Notice of Poll, the last day of campaigns and Election Day itself.
“In this regard, I must remind all Political Parties that the window for campaigns officially closes on Thursday, 19th February 2026.
“On our part, non-sensitive materials have been delivered and are being batched at each Area Council. “The Commission has concluded the training of Electoral Officers and their Assistants and the INEC/ICCES collaborative training of Election Security Personnel. “Recruitment of Ad hoc Election officials has been concluded, and the Training of Trainers took place on Monday, 2nd February, 2026 in preparation for the training of Ad hoc Personnel commencing on the 6th of February, 2026 in the FCT, Kano and Rivers States. ” “Furthermore, BVAS devices are being configured for accreditation and upload of results to the IReV portal, and sensitive materials will be delivered a day before the election.”
