INEC Fixes FCT Area Council Election For Feb 2026

By Nathaniel Gana

23rd January 2025

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that the next Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council election will hold on Saturday 21st February 2026.

The Commission’s Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, made the announcement on Wednesday, 22nd January 2025 during the first consultative meeting with Political Parties, held at the INEC conference room in Abuja.

Addressing the party leaders, Prof. Yakubu highlighted the legal requirement under Section 28(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 for the Commission to issue the notice of an election not later than 360 days before the election date. He said the last Area Council election was held on 12th February 2022 and by the effluxion of time, the tenure of the current current Chairmen and Councillors ends next year.

He said:  “Consequently, the Commission has approved that the 2026 Area Council election in FCT will hold on Saturday 21^st 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.

He added: “In compliance with the mandatory legal requirements, the notice for the election will be published next month, 26^th February 2025. Party primaries will be held from 9^th – 30^th June 2025. The candidate nomination portal will open from 9.00am on 21^st July 2025 to 6.00pm on 11^th August 2025. The final list of candidates will be published on 22^nd September 2025. Campaign in public by political parties will commence on 24^th September 2025 and end at midnight of Thursday 19^th February 2026.”

Prof Yakubu reminded the party leaders that the Anambra State Governorship election would hold on Saturday 8th November this year. He observed that since the 4th consultative meeting held 17th October 2024, the Commission had released the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the Anambra State Governorship election while the Notice of Election had also been published two months ago. The next activity on the Timetable, he averred, is the conduct of primaries by political parties.

His words: “May I remind leaders of political parties that primaries for the nomination of candidates for the Anambra State Governorship election begins in the next two months, 20^th March to 10^th 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.”

The INEC Chairman also informed the party leaders that that the Commission would soon come up with plans for other activities such as the resumption of the Continuous Voter Regustration (CVR) and the conduct of bye-elections.

Responding, the National Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) Mr. Yusuf Mamman Dantalle, echoed the importance of credible elections for sustainable democracy. He lauded Nigeria’s electoral progress, highlighting over two decades of uninterrupted democracy and the resilience of the nation’s political institutions.

Mr. Dantalle stressed the significance of the forthcoming November 2025 Anambra State governorship election and urged stakeholders to begin preparations for the 2027 general election.

“To whom much is given, much is expected, he said. “INEC must put its act together to meet the high expectations of Nigerians for transparent elections that will usher in visionary leaders.

He also called on the National Assembly to expedite constitutional and Electoral Act amendments, while urging citizens to hold elected officials accountable for their performance.