INEC ready for FCT area council election – INEC Chairman

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has expressed its readiness for the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja area council elections scheduled for 12^th of February, 2022.

Speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting organized by the FCTA in Abuja on Thursday, INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said with only nine days to the election, major activities have been concluded.

“Right now, the Commission is only putting the finishing touches to our preparations. Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) was conducted over a period of six months. Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) have been printed and made available for collection.

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“There are enough ad hoc staff engaged and trained for the election. Non-sensitive materials have been deployed to the various Area Councils. Non-pharmaceutical materials have been procured to protect voters and personnel from COVID-19 in line with the Commission’s policy based on the protocols prescribed by health authorities. Voter education and publicity are ongoing.

“Transport arrangements have been made, including motorcycles for remote locations and boats for riverine areas.

Prof. Yakubu stated that the Commission has listed 473 candidates sponsored by 14 political parties for the forthcoming elections.

“In all, 110 candidates (Chair and Vice Chair) are vying for the leadership of the six Area Councils while 363 candidates are competing for 62 councillorship positions.

“Detailed analysis of the candidates by Area Councils, political parties, gender, age and educational qualifications has already been uploaded to our website for public information.

He said the Commission has reviewed the performance of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in the recent Anambra State Governorship election, and has perfected the technology for the Area Council elections.

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“The BVAS have been configured and ready to deploy for the election. We have also made adequate arrangements for technical support and transportation to speedily respond in the unlikely event of glitches on Election Day.

“Similarly, election results will be uploaded to the INEC Result Viewing portal (IReV) in real-time when voting ends and votes are counted at polling units on Election Day.

He also commended all political parties and their candidates for their conduct so far.

“So far, there are no adverse reports of clashes between supporters of different parties and not many incidents of hate or inciting speeches as they canvass for votes. I commend the stakeholders for their advocacy for peaceful elections,”

Also speaking on the recent expansion of voters’ access to polling units, Prof. Yakubu said from just 562 polling units, the Commission established an additional 2,260 units and relocated some of them from congested locations to proximate but underserved areas.

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“We gave voters the opportunity to transfer to some of the new polling units. Unfortunately, voters did not take advantage of this opportunity as we had expected in all cases.

“Consequently, there are 593 polling units in the FCT without registered voters, 1,328 polling units with between 0-50 voters and 546 polling units with over 1,000 registered voters.

He said the Commission has decided that no election will take place at the polling units without registered voters.