Vote Buying, Apathy, Late PUs Mar FCT Poll – Yiaga Africa

Yiaga Africa has said the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was marked by vote buying, low voter turnout out and late opening of polling units.

It also noted that logistical challenges adversely affected the timely commencement of polling, particularly in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), where delays in the deployment of personnel and materials contributed to late opening in several locations.

Yiaga Africa which observed the election in polling units across the sixty-two wards of the territory, said this is in a preliminary statement on the 2026 FCT Area Council elections.

According to the statement signed by its executive director, Samson Itodo and director programmes, Cynthia Mbamalu, the pro-democracy group said the persistent menace of vote buying once again manifested during the election.

“Yiaga Africa observers documented incidents of vote buying at polling units, underscoring the continued vulnerability of the electoral process to monetary inducement.

“Despite prior assurances and directives issued by INEC to security agencies to identify and apprehend both vote buyers and sellers, these illicit practices reportedly continued in several locations,” it stated.

Yiaga Africa stated that as of 9:00 a.m., set-up activities were still ongoing in the majority of polling units observed, indicating that essential preparatory procedures had not been completed within the timeframe prescribed by electoral guidelines.

“In the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), particularly in Wuse and Gwarinpa wards, several polling units opened significantly behind schedule. Observers noted that polling officials were still arranging materials and organizing the voting environment as at 9:00 a.m., with accreditation and voting commencing only after 10:00 a.m.

“On average, across the sampled polling units observed, accreditation and voting began at approximately 10:00 a.m, ” it said.

The civil society organisation noted that consistent with INEC’s guidelines, critical election materials including the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices and the voter register—were deployed in the polling units observed.

It however, observed that in Polling Unit 004, Wuse Ward, Zone 2 Primary School, the voter register was not initially available and was only produced after observers raised concerns and voters objected.

“In addition, essential voting materials were absent in certain locations. Voting cubicles were not observed in PU002 (Ward 09), PU006 (Ward 01), and PU012 (Ward 10) in Abaji Area Council. Furthermore, an ink pad required for the voting process was reportedly missing in one polling unit observed.”

Yiaga Africa identified instances in which voters were reassigned to newly created polling units without prior or adequate notification as one of the challenges during the polls.

It observed that some polling units were closed before the official close time of 2:30pm, saying while some polling units experienced poor voter participation, the guideline requires the polling unit to remain open until 2:30pm or the last person on the queue votes.

Yiaga Africa that observed heavy security deployment in certain locations in some instances, impeded the movement of accredited election observers and restricted access to polling units.

It further noted that the heightened security presence created barriers for citizens attempting to access polling units to exercise their right to vote.

Yiaga Africa urged INEC officials must ensure that the Form EC 60E which is the People Results sheet is posted in the polling units and that the BVAS is used to upload all the PU results sheet Form EC8A to the IReV and properly transmitted to the ward collation centres.

“This measure is critical to strengthening transparency, building citizens’ trust in the election management process and reducing suspicion of manipulation.

“INEC officials must conduct the collation and declaration of results with the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and professionalism. This requires strict adherence to established legal and procedural guidelines governing results collation to safeguard the credibility of the outcome,” it stated.

The CSO asked security agencies to ensure that their personnel conduct themselves with the highest level of professionalism and maintain strict impartiality during the other aspects of the elections, especially, at the collation centres.

Yiaga Africa called on political parties, candidates and their supporters to refrain from disrupting the process and attempts to undermine the elections.

End.