A civil society group, Yiaga Africa has described the 2026 Area Council elections in the Federal Capital Territory as largely peaceful but marked by low voter turnout, late poll openings and persistent vote-buying, raising concerns about electoral administration and voter access.
In a preliminary statement issued under its Watching the Vote (WTV) project, Yiaga Africa said trained and accredited roving observers were deployed across all 62 wards of the FCT from 7:30 a.m. on Saturday to monitor voting, accreditation, counting and compliance with electoral procedures.
While noting that voters who turned out were generally able to cast their ballots without widespread disruption, the civil society group said turnout across most polling units was poor, with administrative and logistical lapses affecting the overall quality of the process.
Late openings, logistical gaps
Yiaga Africa reported widespread delays in the commencement of voting, particularly in the Abuja Municipal Area Council. According to observers, polling officials in several locations were still setting up as of 9:00 a.m., with accreditation and voting beginning around 10:00 a.m. on average.
In Wuse and Gwarinpa wards, election materials arrived late, while some polling units lacked essential items such as voter registers, voting cubicles and ink pads. At Polling Unit 004 in Wuse Ward, the voter register was reportedly produced only after objections from voters and observers.
Polling unit relocation causes confusion
The group also flagged confusion arising from the redistribution of voters to newly created polling units without adequate prior notice. Although the Independent National Electoral Commission sent SMS notifications, Yiaga Africa said many messages were delivered on Election Day or after voting had begun.
Observers reported that some voters spent over an hour trying to locate their reassigned polling units, leading to congestion and, in some cases, voter discouragement. Yiaga Africa said the uneven distribution of voters across polling units raised concerns about the coherence of INEC’s polling unit expansion process.
Early closures, security and vote-buying
Yiaga Africa further reported instances of polling units closing before the official 2:30 p.m. deadline, contrary to electoral guidelines that require polling to remain open until the closing time or until all voters on the queue have voted.
While security deployment was heavy in some areas, the group said this occasionally restricted access for accredited observers and voters. It also documented incidents of vote-buying at several polling units, despite earlier assurances by INEC and security agencies that offenders would be arrested.
Call for transparency as collation begins
Yiaga Africa said its collation observers would monitor ward and area council collation centres and track result uploads on INEC’s Result Viewing Portal (IReV). It urged INEC officials to ensure that Form EC60E (polling unit results) is publicly displayed and that all results are properly transmitted to strengthen transparency and public trust.
The organisation called on security agencies to maintain professionalism and neutrality during collation, urged political parties and supporters to refrain from disrupting the process, and appealed to voters to remain patient and peaceful.
Yiaga Africa said it would release a further statement after the conclusion of results collation, reiterating its commitment to providing independent, data-driven assessments of the electoral process.
By Arinzechi Chukwunonso
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