The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has published and formally presented the revised Register of Voters for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) ahead of the February 21, 2026, Area Council Election, with the total number of registered voters rising to 1,680,315.
The development was disclosed in a statement issued on Wednesday by INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Mrs Victoria Eta-Messi.
According to the statement, the presentation took place in Abuja during a stakeholders’ meeting with political parties, where the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for the FCT, Malam Aminu Idris, described the exercise as a crucial constitutional requirement in the Commission’s preparations for the polls.
Idris recalled that INEC resumed the nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise on August 18, 2025, starting with online pre-registration, followed by physical registration across the country from September 29, 2025.
He explained that, in compliance with Section 9(6) of the Electoral Act, 2022, the CVR exercise in the FCT was suspended on October 12, 2025, to enable the Commission to revise the voters register specifically for the Area Council Election.
“The revision process, carried out pursuant to Section 10(6) of the Electoral Act, involved biometric de-duplication of the register, its display for claims and objections, and the compilation of a supplementary list arising from the exercise,” Idris said.
He added that the revised register now supersedes all previous versions.
The REC disclosed that the total number of registered voters in the FCT increased from 1,570,307 recorded in 2023 to 1,680,315, noting that detailed statistics had been made available to political parties at the meeting.
Idris also briefed stakeholders on INEC’s level of preparedness for the February 21, 2026 election, which will fill 62 councillorship seats and six chairmanship positions across the FCT.
He listed activities already undertaken by the Commission to include monitoring of party primaries, publication of final lists of candidates, commencement of campaign monitoring, receipt of non-sensitive election materials, activation of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), voter education and sensitisation, stakeholder engagement, and collaboration with security agencies through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security.
The REC urged political parties and candidates to maintain the prevailing peaceful atmosphere in the FCT and intensify voter mobilisation ahead of the polls.
He further announced that Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) for newly registered voters, as well as those who applied for transfers or updates during the CVR exercise, had been delivered to the FCT. He added that the Commission would announce the commencement date for PVC collection in due course.
Meanwhile, INEC has also resumed the Continuous Voter Registration exercise in Anambra State.
The CVR in the state was suspended on July 20, 2025, to allow the Commission to clean up the voters register and produce and distribute PVCs ahead of the November 8, 2025, governorship election.
The resumption of the exercise at the INEC Anambra State office and the 21 local government area offices will enable eligible voters to register, update their details, replace lost or damaged PVCs, and transfer their voting locations ahead of the 2027 General Election.
