ADC Accuses APC Of Plot To Subvert FCT Area Council Polls

The African Democratic Congress (ADC), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) chapter, has accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)-led FCT Administration of attempting to overturn the will of residents in the ongoing Area Council elections across the territory.

In a press statement signed by the State Publicity Secretary of the ADC in FCT, Nwigbo Chukwudi Samuel, the party expressed what it described as “displeasure over the deliberate attempt being made by the APC led administration of FCT to over-turn the will of the FCT residents in this ongoing Area Councils polls across the territory.”

The statement, issued amid voting activities in parts of the FCT on Saturday, alleged that the ruling party was engaging in actions capable of undermining democratic processes.

“It is shameful that, rather than focus on policies that build and strengthen our democracy, the ruling party APC, continues to indulge in activities that are detrimental to democracy with the intention to continuously demean and demoralise Nigerians who are eager for a change in their nation from exercising their franchise to vote and choose who leads them,” the statement read.

Calling for what it termed fairness and transparency in the conduct of the elections, the ADC directed a series of demands to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“In order to ensure fairness, transparency, and in the interest of our democracy, we make the following demands on INEC,” the party stated.

First, the ADC insisted that election materials and personnel must be deployed on time, stressing that adequate logistics should be provided.

“All Election materials and personnel deployment must be on time i.e efficient and sufficient number of vehicles to convey election workers on time must be made available. Consequence of failure of this is a deliberate systematic attempt to cause voter suppression,” it said.

The party also raised concerns about potential network disruptions and the handling of result uploads.

“The party hopes that mobile networks will not suddenly fail after the elections. Forms EC8A must be uploaded directly to the IReV portal directly from the polling unit,” the statement added.

On collation procedures, the ADC warned against moving ward-level collation away from designated centres.

“Ward collation of election results must take place in the designated ward collation venues. On no account should ward collation of results be moved to INEC office at the Area Council directly from the polling units,” it said.

The party further urged security agencies to act professionally and avoid intimidation of its representatives.

“That security agencies must avoid any act of intimidation and harassment of ADC party agents. Results must be collated at the designated venues in the full glare of agents and observers,” the statement emphasised.

While acknowledging improvements in Nigeria’s electoral process, the ADC called on INEC to strictly adhere to its own guidelines to safeguard the credibility of the polls.

“Finally, while we acknowledge the progress and new developments that have been made in our electoral process, we must advise INEC to strictly comply with their guidelines and ensure that the FCT 2026 election is free, fair and credible,” the party stated.