INEC Warns Against Vote Buying for 2026 FCT Elections

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned against vote buying ahead of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) area council elections set for February 21, 2026. INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, made this announcement in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja, emphasizing that anyone found engaging in vote buying will face prosecution.

He assured residents that the elections would be peaceful, transparent, and credible, with approximately 1.6 million registered voters expected to participate across 2,822 polling units. A total of 570 candidates will contest for 68 seats.

Amupitan reiterated that the bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS) would be deployed at polling units to ensure proper voter accreditation and that results would be uploaded to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IREV) for transparency. Additionally, 89 observer groups and 700 journalists have been accredited to monitor the electoral process, with security agencies, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), set to deploy personnel to curb vote buying and maintain order.