By Mercy peter
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, SAN, has announced 7 February 2026 for the mock voter accreditation in the Federal Capital Territory.
The mock accreditation is part of the preparation for the 21 February Council election in the Capital city.
The exercise, however, will only take place in 289 selected polling units across the FCT.
Amupitan made the disclosure on Wednesday 4 February 2026 in Abuja at INEC’s first Quarterly Consultative Meeting with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).
The details of the selected areas, Amupitan said, will be published on INEC’s website.
According to him: “There will be a mock accreditation on Saturday, 7th February 2026, in 289 selected Polling Units (PUs) across the six Area Councils. The selected PUs will be made available on the Commission’s website.”
No fewer than 570 candidates will contest elections into 68 constituencies for chairmanship, vice-chairmanship and councillorship positions in the six Area Councils of FCT —namely Abaji, the Abuja Municipal Area Council, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje and Kwali.
The election will involve 1,680,315 registered voters across 2,822 polling units.
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.
On INEC preparedness for the February 21 election, Amupitan said: “On our part, non-sensitive materials have been delivered and are being batched at each Area Council. Recruitment of Ad Hoc personnel has been concluded and their training began on 2nd February 2026. While Election Security Personnel have been trained, Supervising Presiding Officers (SPOs), Presiding Officers (POs) and Assistant Presiding Officers (APOs) are currently undergoing training.
“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.
“While INEC has deployed specialised resources and targeted sensitisation programmes to empower voters with disabilities and ensure inclusivity, 83 domestic and five foreign observers have been accredited for the polls.”
He also urged the CSOs to help mobilise the FCT Council Areas’ residents to go out and collect their PVC.
“The ongoing PVC distribution in the FCT will end on 10th February 2026 and we do not want anyone to be disenfranchised,” he added.
Amupitan also invited the CSOs to join in monitoring the activities of the political parties.
“Also, let’s work together to monitor the activities of the political parties, especially their campaigns and general conduct in the election. Let’s sensitise the public, particularly political party members, to refrain from hate speech, vote buying, misinformation, disinformation and violence during campaigns, and to conduct their activities strictly within the framework of the law.
“There is still so much to be done in the areas of civic, voter education and gender inclusion amid the rising voter apathy that we have experienced in recent election cycles. Let’s collaborate to tackle this malaise,” he added.
He disclosed that most activities outlined in the timetable released in January 2025 have been completed, while campaigns are to end on Thursday, February 19, 2026.
He said: “The Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election, which was released on 23 January 2025, consists of 13 (thirteen) key activities, 10 (ten) of which have already been completed. The remaining activities relate to the publication of the Notice of Poll, the last day of campaigns and Election Day itself. Parties are reminded that campaigns end on Thursday, 19th February 2026.”
Professor Amupitan said non-sensitive materials have been delivered, ad hoc personnel trained, BVAS devices configured and sensitive materials scheduled for delivery a day before the poll. He urged CSOs to help mobilise residents of the FCT to collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) ahead of the February 10, 2026, deadline and to work with INEC in monitoring political parties’ conduct, discouraging hate speech, vote buying, misinformation and violence.
He further revealed that 83 domestic and five foreign observer groups have been accredited for the elections, alongside targeted voter sensitisation programmes to support persons with disabilities.
Meanwhile, INEC, Amupitan said will also conduct bye-elections on February 21, 2026, in Ahoada East II and Khana II State Constituencies of Rivers State following the resignation and death of the sitting members. Voting will take place in 242 polling units across 14 wards, involving over 112,000 registered voters.
Similarly, bye-elections will be held in the Kano Municipal and Ungogo State Constituencies of Kano State due to the demise of the respective legislators. More than 535,000 registered voters are expected to participate across over 1,000 polling units, with ten political parties fielding candidates.
The INEC Chairman also reminded the gathring that the Ekiti State Governorship Election will be held on June 20, 2026, while the Osun State Governorship Election is scheduled for August 8, 2026, in line with the Electoral Act, 2022. He noted that activities outlined in the timetables for both elections are progressing as scheduled.
