When tear gas drifted across Kuchako Polling Unit in Kuje on Saturday afternoon during the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council elections, Blessing Yakubu did not run immediately.
The 34-year-old hairdresser had spent hours at the polling centre, patiently waiting through accreditation, counting and documentation. Her voter’s card was clenched in one hand, her phone in the other. She had shut down her small roadside salon for the day, sacrificing income because she believed, quietly but firmly, that her vote should count.
Then the shouting began.
Armed security personnel moved into the LEA school compound. Panic spread. Someone yelled that result sheets were being taken away. Blessing hesitated briefly before grabbing her bag and fleeing with the crowd, her slippers slapping against the dusty ground.
By evening, she was back in her one-room apartment, watching television reports that described the elections as largely peaceful. She let out a weary laugh.
“Peaceful for who?” she asked.
Across the FCT that day, thousands of voters shared similar experiences — delays, uncertainty, allegations of inducement and, in some areas, outright disruption — during elections conducted in Abaji, AMAC, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje and Kwali. Parallel bye-elections held in Kano and Rivers states followed a similarly subdued and, in certain quarters, contested pattern.
Clear Winners, Troubled Process
Official results showed a decisive victory for the All Progressives Congress (APC), which won five of the six FCT chairmanship seats, losing only Gwagwalada to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The ruling party also secured victories in the Kano and Rivers bye-elections, where key opposition parties were absent or boycotted the process.
But behind the orderly result sheets lies a more complex narrative — one that election observers, opposition leaders and civil society groups say raises concerns ahead of the 2027 general elections.
In Gwagwa, on the outskirts of Abuja, the consequences were fatal. Musa Adamu, identified as a polling agent of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), was stabbed to death during an election-day incident. Residents described confusion and rising tension around the voting area before the violence erupted.
According to eyewitness accounts, Adamu was attacked while defending his party’s mandate. His death has cast a shadow over official descriptions of the exercise as largely peaceful.
“When you hear that somebody did not return home after election duty because he was killed by supporters of a particular party, it shakes people,” an eyewitness who requested anonymity for security reasons said. “What should have been a normal council election became something else. It makes us think twice about voting next time.”
Vote Buying and EFCC Arrests
Elsewhere in the FCT, anti-graft operatives made arrests linked to alleged vote buying. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) confirmed it detained 20 suspects across the territory with more than N17.2 million allegedly intended for voter inducement. In Kwali alone, one suspect was reportedly found with N13.5 million inside a vehicle parked near a polling unit.
Observers reported that payments for votes ranged between N5,000 and N10,000. In some locations, the exchanges were said to be barely concealed.
“You would just see them whispering to people after accreditation. Everyone knew what was happening,” a youth corps member who served as an ad hoc official in AMAC said, requesting anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly.
Although the EFCC’s intervention signalled enforcement, election monitors believe the arrests likely represented only a fraction of the alleged inducement activities.
Voter Apathy Dominates
Perhaps the most striking feature of the elections was not who won, but who stayed away.
Out of approximately 1.68 million registered voters in the FCT, only about 239,000 cast their ballots — roughly 15 per cent turnout. While this marked an improvement from the 9.4 per cent recorded in 2022, observers consider it alarmingly low. Turnout in the Kano and Rivers bye-elections was reportedly even thinner.
Civil society organisations, including Yiaga Africa, CLEEN Foundation and PPDC, attributed the low participation partly to growing public distrust. Critics have pointed to amendments in the Electoral Act 2026, arguing that changes weakened safeguards around real-time electronic transmission of results.
“People are tired. Many of my neighbours didn’t even bother to come out,” Blessing said.
Technology and Delays
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) maintained that the exercise was largely successful, stating that between 93 and 97 per cent of polling unit results were uploaded to its IReV portal by Sunday afternoon.
However, independent observers noted that uploads were not done in real time in several areas. In Kuje, delays reportedly extended into Sunday, raising suspicion among party agents. INEC attributed discrepancies — including altered or “mutilated” result sheets — to handwriting corrections by officials.
Opposition parties have called for full disclosure of polling-unit-level results to enable independent verification.
Security Presence Under Scrutiny
The presence of armed security personnel at certain voting centres also generated controversy. The PDP alleged that security operatives were used in some locations to remove result sheets and intimidate voters.
Similar concerns were raised in parts of AMAC and Kuje, where opposition figures described the security deployment as heavy-handed.
Weak Opposition and Boycotts
In Kano’s bye-elections, the absence of major opposition parties significantly reduced competition. The PDP, NNPP and ADC boycotted the process, citing INEC’s failure to publish their candidates’ names and alleging bias.
Even within the FCT contests, though 17 political parties were listed on paper, reports suggested minimal opposition presence in several wards. Some parties also complained about missing or delayed logos on ballot papers, including the SDP in parts of Gwagwalada.
Observers say the limited competition created the perception that outcomes were predetermined in some areas.
Recurring Logistical Challenges
Operational shortcomings resurfaced during the elections. Observer groups documented late arrival of officials and materials at multiple polling units, with some centres opening after 10 a.m. and a few nearing noon.
Reports also highlighted BVAS glitches, missing voter names on registers and confusion arising from relocated polling units. In Abaji, voting was temporarily suspended at AU Suleman II polling unit after hoodlums allegedly snatched ballot papers.
Individually, each incident appeared isolated. Collectively, they formed a troubling pattern.
Reactions from Stakeholders
Political actors and civil society organisations have expressed unusually aligned concerns.
The Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) cited vote buying, voter apathy and alleged intimidation as key lapses that undermined public confidence.
The ADC pointed to disruptions to INEC’s IReV portal and alleged collaboration between ruling party agents and some security personnel.
The PDP warned that the local elections could foreshadow challenges in 2027 if urgent reforms are not implemented, stating that public faith in electoral outcomes has eroded.
The Obidient Movement linked voter apathy to administrative decisions, including the restructuring of polling units without adequate public awareness.
Civil society group CHRICED described the elections as a failed stress test, warning of a growing democratic deficit.
Human rights lawyer Chidi Odinkalu offered one of the most critical assessments, arguing that the shortcomings reflected a failure of electoral administration rather than merely legal deficiencies.
Official Response
INEC and ruling party officials have rejected claims that the elections were fundamentally flawed. The commission insisted that all polling units eventually opened and that turnout improved compared to 2022.
Minister Festus Keyamo dismissed opposition complaints as exaggerated, noting that disputed result sheets represented a small fraction of the total 2,822 polling units.
APC National Chairman Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda described the victories as validation of President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda. The President also congratulated the winners, stating that the elections strengthened democratic governance.
A Question of Belief
Back in her salon, Blessing Yakubu has resumed work. Customers come and go, and life continues.
But when asked whether she will vote again in the next election cycle, she pauses.
“I will think about it,” she said.
In communities like Gwagwa, where violence left a family grieving, the stakes feel even heavier. Beyond arrests, uploads and political statements lies a deeper concern: public belief in the electoral system.
If citizens begin to see outcomes as predetermined, turnout may continue to decline. And if participation falls further, legitimacy may erode.
On paper, the February 2026 council and bye-elections were routine local contests. On the ground, in the dust, the delays and the drifting tear gas, they carried the weight of something larger — a test whose real consequences may emerge in 2027.
FCT Council Polls Marred by Low Turnout, Violence, Vote-Buying Allegations
