Election observation group Yiaga Africa has given a mixed assessment of Saturday’s Federal Capital Territory Area Council elections, describing the polls as largely peaceful but flagging serious concerns over delayed voting, poor logistics and weak voter participation.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, Yiaga Africa’s Executive Director Samson Itodo said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conducted the elections across six Area Councils, covering chairmanship positions and 62 councillorship seats. The organisation deployed trained observers across all 62 wards from as early as 7:30 a.m. to monitor proceedings from start to finish.
While voters who showed up were largely able to cast their ballots without disruption, turnout was described as generally low across most polling units visited. The bigger headache, observers said, was a string of logistical failures that delayed the opening of several polling units — particularly in the Abuja Municipal Area Council.
In areas like Wuse and Gwarinpa, some polling units had still not opened properly by 9:00 a.m., with officials seen arranging materials long after voting was supposed to begin. Accreditation and voting in many locations only got underway around 10:00 a.m., two hours behind the stipulated schedule. Observers also flagged missing voting cubicles and delays in distributing voter registers at certain centres.
Adding to the confusion, INEC’s redistribution of voters to newly created polling units caused significant disorientation. Although the commission sent SMS alerts to notify affected voters, many only received the messages on election day itself — leaving people scrambling to locate their polling units and creating congestion at some centres.
Compounding matters further, some polling units reportedly shut their doors before the official 2:30 p.m. closing time, potentially locking out eligible voters still waiting to participate.
Yiaga Africa called on INEC to consider extending voting hours in affected areas, improve voter education around polling unit changes, and ensure stricter compliance with transparency requirements — including the timely posting of results at polling units and electronic transmission to the INEC Result Viewing portal.
Security agencies were urged to remain professional and neutral, especially during the collation phase, while political parties were warned against any conduct capable of destabilising the process.
Itodo said the organisation’s observers would continue monitoring ward and Area Council collation centres and reaffirmed Yiaga Africa’s commitment to delivering credible, data-driven reporting throughout the electoral process.
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