Residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) will go to the polls today to elect the leadership of its six area councils.
The area councils are Abaji, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kwali, Kuje and the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC).
About 637 candidates from 17 political parties are jostling for the 68 positions – 62 councillors and six area council chairpersons. Five of the area councils have 10 wards each, while AMAC has 12.
There are 1,680,315 registered voters in the territory but 1,587,025, who collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVC), are expected to vote across 2,822 polling units in the six area councils, supported by 4,345 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines.
As part of its preparation for today’s election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on 7 February, conducted a mock election in 289 selected polling units across the territory. The commission said it was aimed at testing its operational preparedness, especially the performance of the BVAS, ahead of the main election.
At the end of the exercise, Mr Amupitan said, “So far, I am very satisfied that the BVAS has worked excellently. It took just five seconds or less to accredit a voter.”
Seventeen of the 19 registered political parties are presenting candidates in today’s election. Among the major parties participating are the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the Labour Party (LP), and the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
In the 2022 election, the APC won the chairmanship of three area councils while the PDP won in the remaining three. Of the six chairmen elected that year, only two – Christopher Maikalangu of AMAC and Abubakar Abdullahi of Abaji Area Council – are seeking re-election this year.
According to Mr Amupitan, over 83 domestic and five foreign observers, as well as several media organisations, have been accredited for the polls.
READ ALSO: FCT Council Elections: Two chairpersons seek re-election
Also, several security agencies have deployed their personnel to ensure a smooth and secure exercise. The police have reportedly deployed 25,000 personnel across the territory, while the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has mobilised 4,000.
The Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike, in a special broadcast on Thursday, said movement within the FCT would be restricted from 8 p.m. on Friday, 20 February, to 6 p.m. on Saturday, 21 February, the Election Day. He said the exercise would offer residents “a crucial opportunity to shape the future of our great Federal Capital Territory.”
PREMIUM TIMES has deployed its journalists in all parts of the nation’s capital to observe the elections and will bring you live updates of the process. Also, follow us on our Facebook, YouTube and Twitter accounts.