By Sarah NEGEDU
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has been challenged by a coalition of more than 70 civil society organisations, CSO, for the real-time upload of results from the Saturday Federal Capital Territory Area Council elections.
The group, operating under the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, said on Friday that vote trading remains a concern and highlighted several areas they identified as potential “hotspots” for electoral malpractice.
In a preliminary statement released to reporters, the Situation Room pointed to findings from a strategic meeting between the National Peace Committee and the Independent National Electoral Commission on February 10.
The statement was jointly signed by the Convener of the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, Mr Yunusa Ya’u, and Co-Conveners Mma Odi and Celestine Odo.
The statement flagged the Abuja Municipal Area Council for “high risks of vote buying and political intimidation, particularly in urban centres where competition is fiercest.” Gwagwalada, it said, could experience “potential indigene-settler tensions and the presence of political thuggery.”
The CSOs urged INEC to ensure that Form EC8A results are uploaded in real time to the INEC Result Viewing portal and stressed the importance of a fully functioning Bimodal Voter Accreditation System to prevent delays seen in past local elections.
“We challenge INEC to prove its commitment to transparency by ensuring 100 per cent real-time upload of Form EC8A to the IReV portal
“The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System is expected to function optimally, to prevent the delays that have characterised previous local polls.
“INEC must ensure that the trained personnel are readily available to handle technical issues swiftly, ensuring that voters are not disenfranchised due to faulty equipment.
“Polls must open at 8:30 am across all 2,822 polling units to avoid disenfranchising voters,” the CSOs stated.
The coalition added that local government elections in the capital should set a benchmark for transparency.
“Situation Room remains mindful of the persistent and historical challenge of voter apathy, in the FCT, particularly in urban councils like the Abuja Municipal Area Council,” the statement read.
“We recall with deep concern that in the 2022 FCT Area Council elections, out of the 1,373,492 registered voters at the time, the total voter turnout in AMAC was an abysmally low 5.09 per cent.
“However, when citizens feel that the law does not guarantee the transparent transmission of their votes, a sentiment which may now be exacerbated by the failure to mandate real-time electronic transmission of election results in the 2026 Act, which reinforces a sense of disillusionment,” the statement continued.
The statement also addressed recent announcements by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, who declared a work-free day on Friday, February 20, with movement restricted from 8 p.m. Friday to 6 p.m. Saturday.
“This announcement on restriction of movement creates some confusion and is in contradiction with the announcement of the FCT Police Command, which is the security agency statutorily in charge of elections in Nigeria, that has announced the usual practice from 6 am on the day of the election to 6 pm.
“This is the usual practice and is done so as not to shut out people completely from carrying out their own duties,” the groups said.
While commending the deployment of security personnel, the Situation Room reminded officers to remain non-partisan.
“We call on the FCT Commissioner of Police to take charge of security to ensure free flow of movement for those on Election Duty and that officers prevent vote buying, which has become a recurring decimal in recent off-cycle elections. Security agents must remain non-partisan and prioritise the protection of voters, observers, and INEC officials.”
