INEC set to test 2026 Electoral Act in FCT Council polls, State bye-elections

2026-02-19 - 18:25

By Omeiza Ajayi ABUJA: The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC is poised to conduct its first major outing under the newly signed legal framework this Saturday, February 21, 2026. The Commission will oversee the Federal Capital Territory FCT Area Council elections alongside critical bye-elections in Rivers and Kano States, serving as a litmus test for the Electoral Act 2026 recently assented to by President Bola Tinubu. INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, SAN, said the FCT polls will involve 1,680,315 registered voters across 2,822 polling units in all six Area Councils. Simultaneously, the Commission will conduct bye-elections in Rivers State for the Ahoada East II and Khana II State Constituencies, as well as in Kano State for the Kano Municipal and Ungogo State Constituencies. The 2026 Electoral Act introduces several high-stakes adjustments that the Commission must now navigate in real-time. Key among these is the statutory entrenchment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the Election Results Viewing Portal (IReV). As the FCT elections represent the only local government-level polls directly conducted by INEC, observers view this weekend as a strategic rehearsal for the 2027 General Elections. The Commission has already concluded mock accreditation exercises in selected polling units to ensure the BVAS hardware and the revised electronic transmission protocols are ready for the pressure of a live contest. It said the results will be “transmitted” but not in “real time”. INEC had earlier debunked reports suggesting that results for the February 21 FCT Area Council elections will be transmitted in “real-time.” In a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja, Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Adedayo Oketola, the Commission cautioned that such terminology is a technical misrepresentation of its established processes. The clarification followed a recent inspection of election readiness across the Kuje, Gwagwalada, and Bwari Area Councils by the INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN. According to the Commission, while Prof. Amupitan confirmed that technology remains central to the upcoming polls, he did not use the phrase “real-time” during his engagements with the press. The Commission noted that the term implies a live, simultaneous feed of votes as they are being cast – a method that is neither supported by the current legal framework nor the Commission’s operational guidelines. Addressing the specific nature of the Chairman’s remarks, the Commission explained that Prof. Amupitan was responding to inquiries regarding INEC’s technological experiments.